News

UNI Global Union is celebrating today after its Tunisian affiliate the UGTT scooped a share in the 2015 Nobel peace prize.

The trade union was a part of the Tunisian national dialogue quartet, a collection of civil society organisations awarded the prize for their contribution to a building a pluralistic democracy in the wake of the 2011 civil uprising that sparked the wider Arab Spring.

The Norwegian Nobel committee said the quartet had formed an alternative peaceful political process in 2013, when the country was on the brink of civil war and had subsequently guaranteed fundamental rights for the entire Tunisian population.

UGTT Secretary General Houcine Abassi said the prize was “A tribute to martyrs of a democratic Tunisia”. He added “This effort by our youth has allowed the country to turn the page on dictatorship.”

UNI Global Union had nominated its affiliate the UGTT for the award. UNI General Secretary Philip Jennings spoke of his delight at hearing the news.

“This is a recognition of the heroic struggle and of the role the labour movement played in the Tunisian revolution. It underlines the centrality that the union movement plays worldwide in the struggle for freedom and human rights,” Jennings said.

“We were delighted to nominate the UGTT and we are even more delighted that they won.”