What I Do
IBEW keeps San Francisco's cable cars running.
IBEW keeps San Francisco's cable cars running.
The desperate act of self-immolation by the young Tunisian street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi in December 2010 set into motion one of the most dramatic and important protest movements seen in decades. His action sparked a broad-based struggle for economic and social justice that since has involved millions of working women and men in Tunisia and across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region in what is popularly called the “Arab Spring.” Such worker issues as high unemployment and lack of opportunity, declining living standards and the arrogant abuse of political and economic power by the corrupt few spurred the uprisings, and unions and workers’ rights activists were on its front lines engaged in some of the most important union organizing in the region’s history.
It is a movement that sparked the confidence of American workers to challenge erosion of their rights in Wisconsin, Ohio and beyond and also has been an inspiration to the “Occupiers” who speak out for the 99% of Americans. The “Arab Spring” and the unions at its center have opened what is now a global space to challenge the world’s prevailing economic model. We are proud to acknowledge what we have learned from these movements, and to award the 2012 George Meany-Lane Kirkland Human Rights Award to the UGTT of Tunisia and the GFBTU of Bahrain—two unions whose struggles over the past year are emblematic of labor’s role in the Arab uprisings.
As Tunisians took to the streets in January 2011, the Tunisian General Union of Labor (UGTT) emerged at the forefront of the peoples’ movement for dignity, coordinating actions across the country demanding political change and a more equitable society. After 23 years of authoritarian control, President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali fled the country, paving the way for democratic transition. The extraordinary events in Tunisia set in motion an unprecedented rise in protests, with working women and men from Morocco to Yemen raising their voices for change.
In Bahrain, the people converged on the “Pearl Roundabout” calling for equity and democracy, only to be violently repressed. The General Federation of Bahrain Trade Unions (GFBTU) has remained a constant and unwavering voice for peace, democratic change and dialogue in spite of an ongoing campaign of repression against trade unionists and a broad range of civil society, including human rights defenders, teachers and medical professionals.
The courage of these two federations represents a broader movement for justice in the region. In Egypt, workers and independent unions led unprecedented strikes and job actions, which gave strength and power to the protests in Tahrir Square that successfully brought down the dictator, Hosni Mubarak. Unions in Morocco continue to stand with protest and youth movements in that country to advance their longstanding demands for meaningful political reform, and independent unions in Algeria are at the forefront of citizen struggles for democracy, economic justice and workers’ rights in that authoritarian state. Despite government hostility, workers in Iraq are holding fast to demands for worker rights; in the Gulf, protests and strikes such as those in Kuwait are making gains for workers and pressing for real political change. In Yemen, hundreds of thousands of Yemeni citizens bravely rejected their government’s half-hearted reforms through rallies and protests they sustained for months in one of the world’s poorest nations.
The Arab Spring, as exemplified by the workers’ struggles in Tunisia and Bahrain, is a beacon for workers worldwide.
With this award, the AFL-CIO recognizes and honors the different and yet pivotal roles played by the UGTT and GFBTU as representative of the courage, resistance and dignity of men and women workers across the region in their struggle for workers’ rights and social and economic justice. We stand by the region’s independent and representative labor movements. Their tireless, visionary efforts on behalf of workers and their societies are an inspiration to us. With a long road ahead, an independent labor movement is blossoming in the region, with the potential to ensure workers’ voices no longer are marginalized. Together with the global labor movement, we will continue to support their efforts to transform their societies, and to stand in solidarity with the workers of the region.
