Labour news from the Middle East
Algeria
Global unions call for urgent ILO intervention in Algeria 2020-02-15 [IndustriALL] PSI denounces ongoing repression against independent unions 2020-02-12 [PSI]
Crackdown on independent trade unions 2020-02-06 [Open Democracy]
Bahrain
Seven pillars of union plan to reopen schools and education institutions 2020-06-18 [Education International] Union warns of massive worker dismissals 2020-06-10 [BWI]
GFBU assists construction workers amid COVID-19 2020-04-04 [BWI]
Egypt
Labour discrimination at LafargeHolcim 2020-07-01 [BWI] Security forces raid newsroom and arrest senior journalist 2020-06-27 [IFJ]
Egypt: Security forces raid newsroom and arrest senior journalist 2020-06-26 [IFJ]
Iran
Iranian court sentences workers to flogging, forced labour and prison 2020-07-01 [IndustriALL] Atena Daemi’s new trumped-up charges and trial 2020-07-01 [SZAC]
Iran security forces kill 3 Afghan migrants in car blaze 2020-06-29 [Iran News Wire]
Iraq
Trade union takes stock of pressing issues for educators 2020-07-01 [Education International] Kurdish journalists repeatedly attacked and excluded from access to official Covid information 2020-06-08 [IFJ]
Protest at Basra Gas Company/Shell over non-payment of salaries 2020-05-20 [IndustriALL]
Israel
Management of the education crisis raises doubts about the government’s ability to deal with an impending second wave. 2020-06-23 [Davar] ECI Telecom labor dispute following a proposed layoff of dozens of workers. 2020-06-18 [Davar]
Ariel Ya’akobi, chair of the government workers’ union in the Histadrut, is frustrated with Israel's MoF: 'They want to cut wages for 70 thousand workers. 2020-06-18 [Davar]
Jordan
How Filipina domestic workers protect and support each other in Jordan 2020-06-17 [Equal Times] Poor health and working conditions at LafargeHolcim in Jordan 2020-06-07 [BWI]
Non-payment of teacher salaries in the private sector affecting mainly women 2020-05-03 [EI]
Kuwait
Ex-labor official calls for better protection, monitoring of OFWs 2020-01-04 [ABS/CBN] 'A serious violation of treaties': ITF warns Kuwait of potential breach of international law 2019-11-11 [ITF]
Workers strike at airport for better working conditions 2019-11-11 [AFP]
Lebanon
All-female group of Ethiopian domestic workers are on a mission to deliver food to fellow domestic workers in need 2020-05-30 [IDWF] Migrant workers' plight worsens as crises multiply 2020-05-26 [CITY]
Poverty or virus? Lebanon’s uprising continues despite the pandemic 2020-05-06 [Opendemocracy]
Libya
BWI condemns detention and abuse of Egyptian workers in Libya 2020-06-24 [BWI] DemocracyWatch: Imagine living through civil war as well as the pandemic 2020-05-20 [Opendemocracy]
Locked up with no escape: refugees and migrants in Libya face bombs,virus and everything in between 2020-05-18 [Opendemocracy]
Middle East
For migrant workers in the MENA, flattening the curve of inequality is urgent 2020-06-29 [Opendemocracy] 'We’re poor people': Middle East's migrant workers look for way home amid pandemic 2020-06-09 [Guardian]
Arab women among most vulnerable to COVID-19 2020-05-14 [BWI]
Morocco
Education unions successful in stopping support to private schools during the COVID-19 crisis 2020-06-05 [Education international] The hardship of foreign migrants in Morocco 2020-05-27 [North African Journal]
Education unions successful in stopping support to private schools during the COVID-19 crisis 2020-05-13 [Education International]
Oman
Oman lifts two-year labour ban on foreign workers 2020-06-07 [The National] ITF and union develop government relationship 2020-03-13 [ITF]
General Federation of Oman Workers celebrates 10th anniversary 2020-03-10 [The Times]
Palestine
IFJ calls on authorities to take action on threats against a woman journalist 2020-06-30 [IFJ] High Court rejects petition to compensate Palestinian workers hit by crisis 2020-06-08 [Times of Israel]
Unions call on the Canadian government to fight to stop the annexation of Palestinian lands 2020-06-03 [CLC]
Qatar
Migrant workers protest despite no worker rights 2020-05-28 [BWI] Global solidarity for migrants in Qatar on Workers Day 2020-05-07 [BWI]
Government sticks to its guns on Covid-19 mining safety guidelines 2020-05-05 [The Peninsula]
Saudi Arabia
ITF and Saudi Arabia commit to work closer together to support seafarers 2019-11-06 [ITF] Khashoggi : A year without justice 2019-10-02 [IFJ]
Saudi Arabia announces new work rules for women 2019-01-21 [khaleejtimes]
Syria
Rojava: statelessness in a time of pandemic 2020-05-19 [Opendemocracy] EI condemns the targeting of schools in the war 2020-02-29 [EI]
Education union reports terrible toll of Turkish military aggression in Northeastern Syria 2019-10-25 [Education International]
Tunisia
Biggest Gas Field Halted as Workers Strike 2020-06-04 [Canada.com] 53% of migrants lost jobs in Tunisia in COVID-19 lockdown 2020-05-26 [Infomigrants]
Garment workers strike over dismissals of union leaders 2020-05-20 [IndustriALL]
United Arab Emirates
UAE to take action against nations refusing repatriation of migrant workers 2020-04-13 [PTI] Indian consulate in Dubai comes to rescue of stranded worker 2020-01-14 [Khaleej Times]
Mandatory midday break for workers in UAE ends 2019-09-16 [Khaleej times]
Yemen
Journalist repeatedly receives threatening phone calls 2020-06-30 [IFJ] AFP Photojournalist murdered by unidentified men in Aden city 2020-06-04 [IFJ]
IFJ letter to UN General Secretary condemns death sentence against 4 journalists 2020-04-18 [IFJ]
More ...