Ei-iE

After a series of general meetings, Côte d’Ivoire’s trade unions have called a three-day work stoppage for 15, 16, and 17 October 2024 to protest the unconstructive and unproductive dialogue between the unions and the public authorities over the last two years.

Key demands

At a press conference held in Abidjan on 12 October 2024, the unions called for a framework for constructive talks with concrete results to meet their key demands, which include granting substantial quarterly bonuses to staff in the education, training, health, employment, and social affairs sectors.

Social dialogue in question

The unions were received by the Committee for Social Dialogue in the Public Service and by Minister of State Anne Ouloto, Minister of Public Service and Modernisation of the Administration. The framework proposed, the Public Service Consultative Committee, did not, however, reassure the unions, given the density of the subjects on the agenda and the absence of a timetable, said David Bli Blé, spokesman for the trade union organisations and General Secretary of the CEPEN-CI, an affiliate of Education International (EI).

Repression of trade unions

The unions also believe that the ministerial authorities, such as the Ministry of National Education and Literacy, are repressing trade union rights and freedoms. They explain that the Ministry’s Human Resources Director has sent “missions to threaten teachers, school directors, primary and pre-school education inspectors, and heads of establishments throughout the country, unfairly transferring or suspending them, removing them from their posts and depriving them of certain services”.

A call for an end to the threats

The unions strongly condemn these methods, which they deem “unacceptable and reminiscent of another age”. They point out that Côte d’Ivoire is “a constitutional state where freedom of expression and association are guaranteed by law”. The right to strike, they insist, is a constitutional right, reasserted by the laws concerning the general status of the public service and the Labour Code, as well as Conventions 87 and 98 of the International Labour Organization on freedom of association and collective bargaining, ratified by Côte d’Ivoire.

“The memorandum of understanding on social truce cannot override all these contractual and legal provisions. We therefore call on the authorities to stop persecuting and threatening our colleagues, teachers and other public servants,” concluded Mr Bli Blé.

EI is also calling for an immediate end to the trade union repression and the establishment of constructive dialogue and concrete action to improve the working conditions of all the workers concerned in Côte d’Ivoire.