IUF
Uniting Food, Farm and Hotel Workers World-Wide
Hotel Privatization Brings Attack on Trade Union Rights in Burkina Faso
Posted to the IUF website 26-Oct-2004Share this article.
The IUF is calling for international support to the F�d�ration nationale de l'alimentation et de l'h�tellerie du Burkina (FNAHB), one of the IUF affiliates in Burkina Faso. The union is struggling against abuses of fundamental trade union rights in the leading hotel in the capital Ouagadougou.
Last year, the government invited offers for a private management contract to run the H�tel Ind�pendance, where the union has a solid organization. On June 2004, the contract was given to the Soci�t� Malienne de Promotion H�teli�re (SMPH), a property management company in neighboring Mali.
On June 14, union representatives took part in a meeting with the SMPH held under the auspices of the government privatization commission to discuss the company's program and its implications for staff, among other issues. The union requested that existing staff (many with a long history of service) be retained following the privatization, with the exception of those wishing to retire voluntarily. The SMPH agreed to take the union's concerns into consideration in a revised proposal, but from that date on union representatives were excluded from all negotiations between the privatization commission and the SMPH.
The SMPH signed a management contract with the government on July 29, despite repeated union actions protesting their exclusion from the negotiations. On August 7, all employees were handed dismissal letters to be signed as a condition of re-employment on individual, one-year contracts.
While union members have signed the contracts, the union continues to struggle against this egregious abuse of trade union rights. They are demanding negotiations on the future of employment. However, the FNAHB is constrained by labour laws which prevent them from launching legal action until the current individual contracts expire in one year. The IUF has written the relevant ministers as well as the SMPH (which denies all connection with these events and claims that the Ind�pendance is now being run by a hastily established subsidiary in Burkina Faso which only coincidentally has the same chief officer as the parent company SMPH!). The IUF is also discussing the situation with the International Finance Corporation, the private sector lending arm of the World Bank which has made three major loans to the SMPH.
To increase pressure on the government of Burkina Faso to enforce compliance with core ILO Conventions on freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining, the IUF is calling for protest messages to be sent (in French, a translation follows) to the Prime Minister of Burkina Faso, with copies to the SMPH. Please add the name of your organization (in English) at the beginning in the space indicated in italics at the beginning of the French letter, as well as your signature. The message below can serve as a sample. Kindly send copies to the IUF secretariat of any messages you might send so that we can transmit them to the FNAHB.
We thank you in advance for your solidarity and support.
Send a Message to the Prime Minister of Burkina Faso!
To: Monsieur le Premier Ministre
Paramanga Ernest Yonli
Burkina Faso
Fax: 00226 50 308792
with a copy to the Director of SMPH
Monsieur le Pr�sident Directeur G�n�ral
Mossadeck Bally
Soci�t� Malienne de Promotion H�teli�re
Bamako, Mali
Fax: 00 223 222 36 40
Monsieur le Premier Ministre,
Le (name of your organization) a �t� inform� par l'UITA du processus de privatisation de l'h�tel Ind�pendance � Ouagadougou.
Nous sommes outr�s d'apprendre que lors de ce processus, aucune n�gociation concernant les conditions de maintien d'emploi ou de d�parts n�a eu lieu avec la F�d�ration Nationale de l'Alimentation et de l'H�tellerie du Burkina, qui repr�sente les employ�s/es de l'h�tel. Contrairement aux normes internationales et notamment aux Conventions du BIT que votre gouvernement est oblig� de respecter dans ce domaine, les contrats d'emploi ont �t� modifi�s et impos�s sous menace de licenciement imm�diat.
Nous vous prions en cons�quence de veiller � ce que les droits fondamentaux des salari�s/es soient r�tablis et respect�s et qu'une n�gociation s�rieuse soit entam�e avec les repr�sentants/es syndicaux/ales en ce qui concerne les conditions de travail et d'emploi.
Les salari�s/es et leur repr�sentant syndical, FNAHB, ont tout notre soutien et nous allons suivre de pr�s leur situation.
En vous souhaitant bonne r�ception de la pr�sente, nous vous prions d'agr�er, Monsieur le Premier Ministre, l'assurance de notre consid�ration distingu�e
Signature
cc: SMPH
English translation
Dear Mr. Prime Minister,
The (name of organization) has been informed by the IUF of the manner in which the privatization process of the H�tel Ind�pendance in Ouagadougou has been carried out.
We are outraged to learn that in the course of the privatization process there were no negotiations concerning the terms and conditions of employment with the trade union representing the hotel's employees, the la F�d�ration Nationale de l'Alimentation et de l'H�tellerie du Burkina (FNAHB). Contrary to international norms and Conventions of the ILO which your government is obliged to defend and respect, the employment contracts were unilaterally modified and imposed under the threat of immediate firing.
We therefore ask you to use your good offices to ensure that the basic rights of the employees are fully restored and that serious negotiations are initiated with the trade union representatives concerning the terms and conditions of employment.
The employees of the H�tel Ind�pendance and their trade union FNAHB have our full support and we will continue to closely follow developments.
Sincerely,
cc: SMPH