After decades of being denied basic human and workers’ rights, Tunisians are now openly expressing their desire for those rights, says Tunisian activist Jamel Bettaieb.  The teacher and trade unionist received the 2011 Democracy Award from the National Endowment for Democracy in a Capitol Hill ceremony yesterday.

Bettaieb is from Sidi Bouzid, the hometown of Mohammed Bouazizi, the unemployed fruit vendor who burned himself to death after being humiliated by the police. His action ignited Tunisia’s revolution. 

Conditions for workers are “very bad” right now in Tunisia, Bettaieb says, especially those who are employed in the tourism industry. The revolution has negatively affected tourism and workers are demonstrating and protesting demanding jobs and government financial support until tourism builds up again.

The protests are a new experience for Tunisian workers, Bettaieb says. Before the revolution, only public sector workers had minimum rights, including the right to join unions. But private-sector workers were denied the right to form unions or protest.

The brutal and corrupt dictatorship of former President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali created a society with widespread inequality, Bettaieb says. Public-sector workers like teachers and doctors have a decent life, but many others live in poverty.  

Earlier this week, a Tunisian court sentenced Ben Ali in absentia to 35 years in jail. The former dictator, who has been in Saudi Arabia since he was forced from power six months ago, was found guilty of theft and of illegally possessing jewelry and large sums of cash.

He called on trade unions in the United States to join in solidarity with unions in Tunisia to promote freedom and to provide resources and expertise to help the workers create strong unions.

An active member of the recent Tunisian protest movement and labor union activities, Bettaieb is a professor of German at the Sidi Bouzid Institute and is an active member of the “Secondary Education Union,” part of the Tunisian General Trade Union (UGTT).  He also is the Sidi Bouzid representative of the Tunisian Observatory for Trade Union Rights and Freedoms.