Communal Workers Threaten To Disrupt May Elections

Disgruntled Communal workers from numerous provinces of Algeria are again planning to rally for their rights by threatening to wage a nation-wide strike action early next month for better working and living conditions.

• A communal workers’ Council (CNSC) spokesman told Echorouk that if these demands were again ignored by the public authorities, an open-ended strike by thousands of communal workers would be declared in over 70% of the country’s municipalities.

• He added that the looming work stoppage could severely disrupt the daily work in the various municipalities and thus jeopardize the smooth preparation for the upcoming legislative elections slated for May 10th 2012.

• “We are asking the public authorities to open serious negotiations so that the CNSC can be involved in the development of the special status and a reliable allowance system for all communal workers,” a Snapap union representative Mr Azzedine Hellassa told Echorouk.

• He set April 15th as a last deadline for the relevant authorities notably the Interior Ministry officials “to address seriously the communal workers’ pressing grievances or face a protracted work-stoppage”, as he put it.

• The impending protest movement is “motivated by the desire to see socio-professional conditions improve for workers across the sector”, according to Mr Hellassa.

• He also emphasized that the communal workers would vent their indignation at the fact that the minister in charge of their sector had not fully lived up to the commitments made late last year.