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Following the attack on Houcine Abassi, the General Secretary of the Tunisian trade union confederation, the Union générale tunisienne du travail (UGTT), UNI joins with the ITUC in condemning  this cowardly act. We stand in solidarity with the UGTT, the lynchpin of Tunisia’s successful transition to democracy.

Houcine Abbassi, who is also president of the Arab Trade Union Confederation (ATUC), was the target of a violent assault as he was leaving his office by car, in Mohamed Ali square in the centre of Tunis.

UNI Global Union General Secretary Philip Jennings said, “We send our full support to Houcine Abassi and the leadership of the  UGTT. We know the UGTT will stay the course on the road to sustainable democracy and UNI will back them every inch of the way.”

“We call on the Tunisian justice system to bring its full weight to bear against these attackers and put an end to these violent attacks and the unacceptable climate of violence threatening the UGTT. The UGTT, a driving force for stability and for the fight for democracy and social justice in Tunisia and the whole Arab region has the full support of the international trade union movement” said Sharan Burrow, General Secretary of the ITUC.

The UGTT described the attack, which occurred at the end of an emergency meeting at the head office of the Tunis transport workers’ union, as “a despicable and contemptible act”. It has handed over evidence of the attack and witness statements to the authorities.

The attack has been roundly condemned by all sectors of Tunisian society, including the National Union of Tunisian Journalists (SNJT) which said, “This was an attack on civil society and on his pioneering role in cleaning up the country’s political climate.”