Revision of labour code requires common evaluation of all provisions of code (UGTT)

The executive committee of the Tunisian General Labor Union (UGTT) stressed, Wednesday, that the revision of the labour code requires a common evaluation of all the provisions of the code and should not be limited to the question of contracts and precarious employment. In a press release published Wednesday, the UGTT denounced the "unilateral" revision of the labor code by the government "denying the social contract signed between the government and the UGTT and UTICA on January 14, 2013." This declaration comes one day after a Cabinet meeting held at the Kasbah chaired by Prime Minister Ahmed Hachani and in the presence of Social Affairs Minister Kamel Madouri and several ministers to examine a bill amending and supplementing some provisions of the labour code. The executive committee of the UGTT declared that the unilateral revision of the labor code without involvement of the other parties concerned is «an exclusion and an incomprehensible and unjustified step backwards from the acquired traditions of s ocial dialogue.» It called for holding a social dialogue so as to end the marginalisation of thousands of subcontracted workers and substitute teachers as well as contract workers in the health, culture, higher education and employment sectors. It also called for resuming the dialogue according to a participatory framework and reviewing as soon the basic statutes of the public service and public institutions, as well as the basic sectoral statutes in order to protect the rights of agents, employees and workers. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse