Armies of Liberation

This strike has been going on for years. I have a copy of the employment contract for the port workers. It allows punitive transfers and termination without cause, among a number of other illegal provisions.

HOOD: About the suffering of the workers port of Aden container from abuse

Revealed by local authorities in the governorate of Aden and the ugly face biased to manage the company operating the port of Aden Container “DP World” in farsightedness, in violation of the Constitution and the law to prevent dock workers from exercising their constitutional and legal in the peaceful sit-in to claim their rights project, but proceeded to launch phase new use of cruelty and violence when dispersing the peaceful sit on Saturday 5/6/2010, which resulted in injuries to workers and the arrest of (9) after the port workers had gathered in the round of Caltex for going on strike, which started on 05/24/2010 after reversed (down) the company’s implementation of the commitments made in the minutes earlier with representatives of the workers of the equality of reward paid workers, the nearest port run by “DP”, a port of Djibouti, and following this record has been suspended a strike a year and a half, as well as the right of workers in health care and the demands of related, including the employer must provide the rights of the worker in accordance with the Labour Code. (Read on …)

Yemen Observer – The General Labor Union in Yemen (GLU) called all workers in Yemen to initiate a general strike starting on Saturday, May 15. (Read on …)

In a joint statement today “The Educators syndicate” and “The Education Profession syndicate” in the governorate of Taiz condemned the illegal deductions the government imposed on their salaries, which was deducted to the benefit of fake syndicate called ” The education & discipline profession syndicate”. (Read on …)

Yemen Times

Jamal Al-Sanabani, Deputy President of the Yemeni Laborers Union spoke to Ali Saeed from the Yemen Times about the nature of union work and the challenges that unions face. (Read on …)

Raufa ran for the head of the YJS and faced a lot of pressure from many quarters, including the VP of Yemen and Yahya Saleh.

Yemen Post

FK: Were you subject to pressures from higher ranking officials to force you to withdraw your candidacy?
RH: I was actually asked to withdraw from the elections and this was published in newspapers. In the beginning, Nasr Taha Mustafa, the former YJS chairman, was delegated by the General People Congress (GPC) to convince me to withdraw. This clearly means this party will not wait until the results come out to see who wins, but rather it works on making other candidates withdraw their candidacy to facilitate the task of its candidate, something that contradicts the core of democracy. I apologized to Mustafa and told him over phone, because I was then abroad, that I will never withdraw.

FK: Have your received similar calls or have you been subject to other sorts of pressure?
RH: Yes, I got a telephone call from Yahya Al-Shauibi, but he did not mention withdrawing the candidacy and offered to meet when I return; however, I avoided him because I knew the message he had wished to convey. I received another call from Yahya Mohammed Abdullah Saleh who later came to my house and told me that GPC Secretary General and Vice-President Abdu Rabu Mansour had requested him to convince me to withdraw.

Update: Yemen Times

In the last minutes of the nomination process, three candidates for the chairperson position withdrew, decreasing the total number of candidates to five. All five of these nominees work with government media establishments as every opposition newspaper and independent candidate withdrew. Two of the five candidates standout: Dr. Raufa Hassan, university professor and director of an NGO, and Yaseen Al-Masoudi from Al-Thawra state run newspaper.

If elected, Dr. Raufa Hassan will be the first woman to chair the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate. She emphasized the necessity of meeting the journalists’ demands. “I will take it upon me to achieve the recommendations which the fourth conference for journalists will bring about,” she said.

Original Post: The last head of the YJS was the head of the state news agency SABA and was a total tool. The regime’s choice for this term is the vice at al Thawra, and there is a lot of contention about the regime’s strong arming the union to select and “elect” its candidate. (See Almotamar.net article for regime endorsement.) The non-governmental journalists are concerned with several important issues as the following Yemen Times oped explains:

Political parties are focusing their attention these days on the upcoming Yemen Journalists Syndicate (YJS) general assembly meeting to elect a new board and chairman. Being the most effective and important civil society organization, both tae ruling party and opposition have been conducting intensive meetings, trying to mobilize journalists to vote for their candidates. The ruling party, in particular, has been mustering journalists working for the state-run media to vote for a selected list representing the party. Heads of these media outlets have used their positions to influence their journalists to vote for a specific group of journalists. This demonstrates how these parties are keen to control the YJS and manipulate it to serve their own political agenda.
(Read on …)

So how are they supposed to get their back pay?

Yemen Post: Tens have been arrested when police broke up on Tuesday a strike by the employees of the Aden branch of the Yemen oil company.

Many other employees and people of those whose homes are close to the company complex, including children, were injured when police fired live bullets and used tear gas to disperse the protesting workers who began a full-scale strike last Saturday demanding financial rights. (Read on …)

Yemen Post
Security forces in Aden released on Saturday members of the Labor Union Committee who were arrested at the Aden Container Terminal over the strike that was held by Aden port workers.

They were freed after a week in custody by the governors order.

However, the workers at the Aden Container Terminal have been striking for eight straight days in protest on feared injustice that they may have after the station was handed over to DP World.

They claim they know nothing about the agreement under which the terminal was taken over by the DP world and can’t decide over issues that concern them.

The workers have launched stages since the agreement was signed early this month, describing the deal as unfair and harms the interests of the whole country.

YO

Workers at the port of Aden have gone on strike in protest over new contracts issued by Dubai Ports World’s (DPW), the port’s new administration, said sources at the workers syndicate on Monday.

More than 90 per cent of the 600 workers at the ports of Caltex and Al Mualla have been on the strike since last Saturday, said workers representative Abdu Rabu Majda.

The strike came about one week after DPW began to operate the port of Aden following an agreement signed last July between the Yemeni government and DPW.

“The main reason behind the strike was the new contracts, which gave DPW the right to sack any worker. It also put all workers on six month probation,” Majda told the Yemen Observer.

Most of the 600 workers did not agree to the new contracts and went on strike, he said.

About seven workers chosen to represent their peers in negotiations with DPW and Yemeni authorities were arrested by security forces in Aden the first day of the strike. However Aref Al Muhairi, Director General of DPW, denied any problem at the port, and denied the implementation of new work conditions, saying the strike did not affect work at the port.

He said work stopped only for three hours at the beginning of the strike. “And within 48 hours everything will be as it was, we are operating 45 ports, and we know what we are doing,” Al Muhairi told the Yemen Observer.

“There is nothing new in the contracts, they were under discussions for four months with the Yemeni government,” he said. “For those who do not like to work with us, it’s up to them, they can go wherever they like,” he added.

There’s been labor problems at the port of Aden for over a year. News Yemen

ADEN, NewsYemen

More than 500 workers in the Aden Containers Terminal (ACT) resumed Sunday a general strike in protest to an agreement signed between the government and the Dubai Ports International Company (DPI) to operate the ACT.

Workers said the agreement does not care about them and their position is not defined. They expressed fears being fired by the DPI administration or being rights-deprived.

Board chairman of the Gulf of Aden Ports Company, key partner of DPI in operating the ACT, Mohammad Eyfan, said it is not the business of the government to solve the workers’ problems anymore after it had handed overt the ACT to DPI. Eyfan described the worker’s strike as “mess” and that DPI is able to dissolve the problem of workers as DPI has experiences in 43 terminals around the world.

Workers suspended the strike on Saturday after the deputy governor of Aden, the Social Affairs and Labor Office in Aden and the office of the General Authority for Aden Free Zones promised them to discuss their requests and find satisfactory solutions.

DPI has not offered any statement on the strike until writing this report.

More, there hasn’t been a lot of coverage.

Yemen Post
As soon DP World, Aden-Dubai Company for Ports Development, announced officially last Thursday taking over management operations in Aden Container Terminal, the containers terminal workers started a comprehensive strike within the terminal premises. (Read on …)

Meanwhile Port workers are on strike.

YahooDUBAI (AFP) – The Emirati DP World group said on Thursday it has officially taken over container operations at the Yemeni port of Aden in a joint venture partnership with the Yemen Gulf of Aden Port Corporation.

“The agreement includes the lease of both Aden Container Terminal and of nearby Ma’alla Container Terminal, and a commitment by the joint venture to invest around 220 million dollars in further developing the port,” it said in a statement. (Read on …)

There’s massive corruption in the Heath and Medicine Ministry. A lot of donated and state funded drugs and equipment gets stolen from the ministries shelves. A real doctors union could put some pressure to increase health care standards. But no, what’s been produced is another clone. Similarly, if its impossible to get even a fair union vote, what do we think of the upcoming Parliamentary vote?

YO
The Yemen Observer recently published an article about the results of elections to the Doctors Syndicate of the Capital-Secretariat Branch during a subsidiary meeting on October 16. The purpose of these elections was to choose an administrative authority for the syndicate. Yet oddly enough, another meeting was held October 30 to conduct new elections to choose the administrative authority of the same Yemeni Doctors Syndicate of the Capital-Secretariat branch.

Last week in a simple hall used for wedding ceremonies, the first sub-conference of the Yemeni Doctors Syndicate of the Capital-Secretariat branch elected Dr. Mohammed al-Surmi as a Chairman of the syndicate. His election took place in the presence of a large number of Yemeni doctors. Yet, the first sub-conference of the Yemeni Doctors Syndicate of the Capital-Secretariat branch was again held in the Al-Shawqani Hall of the Policemen Faculty to elect a new leader and administrative authority. (Read on …)

YJS dispute about admission of new members delays elections, Yemen Post

The Editor in Chief of Al-Ray Al’am (Public Opinion) newspaper Kamal Al-Olfi revealed that his newspaper’s office was set into fire by anonymous elements last Friday.

Al-Olfi mentioned in a press release that the fire was casued by petrol, which was poured outside the office’s door, therefore, setting the entire office on fire, hinting some of the office equipments were destroyed completely.

Stressing that the paper will not change its stance, Al-Olfi accused corruption forces of standing behind the incident especially when his paper has been launching wide campaigns to criticize corruption and corrupt officials.

In its recent issues, the paper attacked the Minister of Local Administration Abdul Qader Ali Hilal and a number of commercial institutions.

For its part, Yemeni Journalists Syndicate (YJS) described the incident to be a dangerous development targeting independent newspapers. It also considered this incident to be a new way for intimidating the independent media.

The syndicate demanded Interior Ministry to launch a prompt investigation into the circumstances of the incident and to reveal those who were behind it.

In related news, YJS will hold elections next October to vote for a new council. Though these elections were supposed be conducted last June, political differences over admitting new members among the syndicate’s affiliates pushed the syndicate’s presidency to delay the elections.

AM

Almotamar.net – Hundreds of Yemeni journalists intend staging a massive sit-in in front of the headquarters of the Yemini Journalists Syndicate (YJS) in the capital Sana’a on Saturday. The sit-in comes in protest not deciding their applications for the union membership and in condemnation of what they have described as double standard the YJS councils in dealing with them.

Almotamar.net learned that hundreds of journalists from different governorates intend to erect a camp in front of the YJS headquarters in condemnation o f the unprofessional behaviour of the Journalists syndicate in dealing with its members and its message in general and in protest to depriving them of the union’s membership.

Yemen Times

SANA’A, May 1 — Yemen is marking International Labor Day, also called May Day, by celebrating the occasion in its capital city of Sana’a today.

Mohammed Al-Jidri, head of the General Union for Yemeni Laborers, told the Yemen Times that more than 100 workers selected from all governorates will be awarded at the celebration at the Cultural Center.

He noted that each governorate will celebrate the occasion by rewarding several distinguished workers, adding, “Even companies will celebrate the day, with 4,000 workers being rewarded.”

According to him, Yemen has more than 10 million laborers between the ages of 15 and 64 working in the private, public and agricultural sectors. (?) Yemen’s estimated population is 21 million, 45.9 percent of whom are under age 15. (Read on …)

Yemen Times

- Laborers protest at Marib governorate’s premises, accusing ruling party of rigging trade union’s votes

Tens of public sector workers gathered on Monday before Marib governorate’s premises protesting against the ruling party for allegedly rigging trade union elections that took place in the governorate, the weekly reported in one of its front page stories. It added that the Marib local authority ordered tens of security and military soldiers to take control of the hall where the election was held, following withdrawal of the protesters, who challenged integrity of the election and neutrality of the supervisory committee in charge of overseeing the electoral process.

According to the weekly, the protesters also demanded the competent authorities in the government to take firm procedures against those accused of rigging the vote and committing other illegal violations with the intention of manipulating the vote result in favor of the ruling party.

Despite two of the supervisory committee members quit as a result of the challenges presented by the protesters, branch of the General People Congress in the governorate continued its activities and manipulated the vote result in favor of its candidates. The Ishteraki.net correspondent in Marib mentioned that the protestors staged a peaceful demonstration after they withdrew from the election conference, adding that they didn’t involve in clashes with policemen.

The weekly quoted a protestor as saying that there are individuals, who were appointed by the ruling party as agents for its candidates, however, they don’t work in the governorate, pointing out that the party also appointed ghost workers.

Yemen Times

SANA’A, Feb 20 — The Yemeni Teachers Syndicate and the Syndicate of Educational Professions released a statement calling for all Yemeni teachers to stage a one day sit-in on Tuesday, February 26, to force the government to raise their salaries.

The call for the sit-in came on Monday, after the extension to the negotiating period ended.

The statement said that the government had not responded to teachers’ demands to raise their annual wages within the month. The two syndicates decided to call for nationwide peaceful sit-ins. The statement indicated that while the government procrastinates from meeting the rights of the employees, claiming it is unable to curb the price hikes, it continues to operate as usual. The statement mentioned that the government neither appreciates the nature of teaching nor the significance of the teacher, who is the cornerstone of education. “This negligence has led to the constant decline in the quality of education,” said the statement.

The syndicates demanded that the government give teachers a 60 to 110 percent raise in their standing basic salaries, including YR 130,000 ($600) a month in back pay beginning from the middle of 2007, and release the annual bonuses suspended by a governmental decision in 2005.

The statement also asked the government to provide rural living expenses for the teachers who teach in rural areas, in accordance with the teachers’ law.

Moreover, the syndicates requested that local and national non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other syndicates sit in solidarity with the teachers. This is not the first sit-in organized by the Yemeni Teachers Syndicate. Last year the syndicate arranged many sit-ins and protests with the same demand of raising salaries. The protests forced the government to adopt a new strategy to deal with the demands, promising to raise teachers’ salaries. “The government has not made radical solutions for the teachers’ problems but limited ones. It gives teachers very small salary increases, which are nothing at all in proportion to the price hikes. In addition, the increases are always subject to many fines and taxes,” commented Ahmed Al-Rabahi, head of the Teachers’ syndicate

He added that the maximum salary for teachers according to the law is YR 160,000, and they are asking for YR130,000, which will come to YR 70,000 after taxes and insurance are deducted. In addition, Al-Rabahi believes the numerous strikes last year in many different governorates could oblige the government to pay the teacher bonuses and back pay.

Isamail Zaidan, general manager of information for the Ministry of Education, refused to comment, while personnel manager Faisal Jameel couldn’t be reached.

Abdulaziz Murshed, father of a student, supported the teachers in their demands, but at the same time is worried about his son and the other students. “I’m sure that teachers have the right to stage a sit-in because their salaries are too low due to the unbelievable price hikes. Also, every increase they get is preceded by two or three price hikes and followed by another two or three. But though they have the right to protest, students will be affected and I’m worried about that,” Murshed said.

Al-Sahwa

YLS threatens to resort to collective political asylum

November 28, 2007- Chair of the Yemeni Lawyer Syndicate in Sana’a threatened that YLS will resort to political asylum if official authorities don’t end its constant violations against lawyers.

“Judges, prosecutions and security men commit infringements against lawyers through imprisoning them and preventing them form entering to police stations.

He further highlighted that YLS would plan to arrange protests, sit-ins and marches in case continuation of violations.

SANA’A, NewsYemen

Yemeni Veterinaries Syndicate has called veterinaries all over the country for a general strike next Sunday to ask for better attention while fighting bird flu and taking care of animal wealth.

The syndicate said in a statement that it had demanded from the government some legal financial extra for veterinaries, 80% of salary, in accordance with “Regulating Animal Wealth Law” issued in 2004.

Although the president ordered to give veterinaries the requested extra to better their living standards, the order was ignored by the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, said the statement.
It said that officials in the ministry did ignore the financial allowances for Bird Flu Controlling Room.

Because the syndicate is interested to avoid any troubles, specially in these difficult situations the country lives, it warns the ministry to positively interact with legal requests of veterinaries and all workers in animal wealth sector before implementing a general strike, said the statement.

A recent report, issued by the General Authority for Animal Resources in the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, has shown that the authority is unable to implement precautionary measures to prevent possible outbreaks of bird flu and rift valley diseases, which still threaten Yemen and neighboring areas.

The report attributes this incapacity to the lack of adequate funds to carry out preventive programs.
Few months ago, the Cabinet approved a support estimated at YR 50 million for agriculture sector to implement blocked projects.

Yemen Observer:

IBB – The Yemeni Teachers Syndicate in Ibb organized a huge sit-in demanding the implementation of the wages codes on Wednesday, November 21st. Protestors, from across the province gathered in front of the governorate building.

The sit-in lasted about two hours from 9:00am until 11:00 am, during which time several speeches were delivered by representatives of the YTS. Protestors chanted slogans which bear witness to their complaints; “Oh, government of corruption a hike of prices has prevailed all over the country”, “Oh, government of despair, where is the increase in wages, the government is on the TV, in reality, there is no achievement. Oh, minister, oh Jawfi, to hear hunger is enough, Oh, Minister, Oh, Mojawer, don’t denounce or deny our rights.”

In a statement, the protestors demanded the release of the second phase of the wages law beginning July 2006, the third phase from July 2007 according to the 43rd item of law for 2005, and the release of allowances, bonuses and salaries held back for years to be paid in cash to all government employees, since this was agreed to in this year’s budget, and YR82 billion was set aside for this purpose.

They also demanded the maximum increase of the second phase (YR100,000), the third phase (YR130,000), and the beginning of a financial connection for degrees to be re-allocated evenly and fairly among employees.

With reference to the bonuses, they demanded the granting of the bonus to all who deserve it, as of July 2005 until August 2006, and the bonus for educationalists in general to be at a rate between 60-110 percent, depending on one’s qualifications. This is according to documentation signed by three syndicates – YTS, GUTEP and UTP – and the ministry of education committee on July 31st, 2006.

They also demanded bonuses for instructors, administrators, teachers of the Qura’n and all those who have been deprived of this right in the education, health, engineering and other sectors. They demanded the rural exchange allowance be paid retrospectively to all staff in rural areas who have been deprived of this right. They also demanded the return of sums illegally deducted from salaries in October under false names and the investigation and trial of those responsible.

“These are our fair and clear demands, they are the demands of all teachers, male and female, in the ruling party or in the opposition, from all schools of the Republic. These rights are for all, they have nothing to do with policy and, for the purpose of quick implementation, we announce the launching of the new phase of peaceful legal activities for this year, as in the other governorates of the Republic,” said Abdussalam al-Khudairy, secretary general of the YTS. “We are within our legal rights to escalate the means of protests and demonstrations, and to strike from work if required,” he added.

He also mentioned a list of abuses that the teachers were exposed to due to their participation in the sit-in, and asked teachers to report any arbitrary action, stating that the SYT would support and stand-by those who were subject to unfair treatment.

The rally was conducted in a very peaceful, democratic way in which opinions were expressed freely. The protestors also thanked security men for their cooperation, stating, “Soldiers, Army, we have something in common – the love of living.”

The “legal” trade unions are the ones co-opted by the GPC. The ones that express the voice of the workers are outlawed and apparently, not allowed to protest.

Taiz JMP adopts outlaw trade union
Wednesday, 14-November-2007
almotamar.net – Director of Social Affairs and Labour Office in Taiz governorate Ahmed al-Alimi on Wednesday said what so-called the Council of Trade Unions and civil society Organisations Coordination n Taiz to carry out a sit-in on Wednesday in front of Taiz governorate building is violation of all valid laws as the entity that announced staging the sit-in is illegal and carrying out any activity exposes it to legal accountability and punishment.

Al-Alimi added that practicing democratic action within the legal frame is a right guaranteed by the constitution but violation of the laws under any name is an unacceptable act and must be faced with legal measures. The official pointed out that leaderships of the branches of the Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) in the governorate were pushing that illegitimate e entity which issues statements without any legal support for practicing its activity.

Al-Alimi said there are 370 legitimate organisations working in the governorate representing branches of unions, and professional and workers societies and there are 6 illegal organisations, among them the Yemeni Teachers Union working with partisan leaderships on organising the sit-in under the name of the council for coordination of unions and civil society organisations in Taiz.

A statement issued by federations, unions and societies in Taiz asked the leadership of the local authority in Taiz to order the authorities to deal with that in line with the laws, reminding the official sides that there no official description for the so-called the coordination council.

Meanwhile legal sources described the JMP announcement of solidarity with the sit-in as dangerous precedence legalizing all outlaw practices. The sources told almotamar.net that Taiz JMP support for the demands called by the coordination council as an evidence of the JMP involvement in formation of that illegitimate entity.

The agreement was reached a ways ago but nada.

News Yemen

SANA’A, NewsYemen

The teaching staff of Sana’a University has warned the government of peaceful protests and open strikes in case it continues to postpone meeting their requests of better payments and rights.

If the government continues to ignore our requests, the marches may go beyond the university to reach the Presidency Palace, the Sana’a University’s Teaching Staff Syndicate warned in a press release on Thursday.

The syndicate gave the government one week to fulfill its promises to better the situations inside the university according to the agreement signed between the government and syndicate on May 19, 2007. It urged the government to stop postponement and to prove its credibility and sincerity.

The teaching staff has no new requests, but it just asks the government to achieve the agreement it signed with the syndicate six months ago, said the information official of the syndicate Abdullah al-Azazi.

The Teaching Staff of Sana’a University has asked the government earlier this year to approve financial and administrative independence of all universities, to reform worsening conditions inside universities, to commit to the universities law related to academic appointments, to develop the scientific research, to tackle the shortcomings of salaries strategy, to pay teaching staff the professional allowances, to make a health insurance system for the staff and employees, in addition to other scientific and academic issues.