The branch union of the FGAT-UGTT at the Mondelez SOTUBI joint-venture biscuit factory in Tunis, reaffirmed their commitment to struggle for the rights of all Mondelez/SOTUBI workers at an extraordinary congress on October 27 convened at the request of the workers. Congress elected a 7-member leadership team which includes 4 members of the executive which was dissolved under management pressure [1] in 2012 following the suspension of a workplace representative and the Assistant General Secretary and the dismissal of General Secretary Zied Naloufi.
The workers' vote of confidence in their previous leadership is living refutation of the company's claim that the union had "lost confidence in [suspended and dismissed] union leaders, the leaders resigned and workers voted on and approved a new union and new leaders in November 2012." This nonsensical assertion has been made in Mondelez public statements and, apparently, recycled to the US government's National Contact Point for the OECD Guidelines in response to an IUF submission charging the company with multiple violations of fundamental trade union rights in Tunisia and Egypt. Mondelez rejected the government's offer to provide mediation [2]; the National Contact Point again recommended in its assessment of the submission that Mondelez talk to the IUF to resolve these conflicts.
The union continues to demand the reinstatement of Zied Naloufi, whose family is suffering economic hardship as a result of his dismissal, and the return of Assistant General Secretary Karim Amdouni to his former job at the plant.