Algeria: Assassination attempt on SNAPAP leader

On Friday 15th July, after we had gone to press, there was an attempt to assassinate Rachid Malaoui, the human rights activist and chairman of the independent trade union Syndicat national autonome du personnel de l'administration publique (SNAPAP). The planned was scuppered when the brakes of his vehicle were discovered to have been sabotaged. SNAPAP and Malaoui have both been at the forefront of demonstrations against the government. It is no secret that Malaoui is a target of the security services.

He was brutally assaulted during a demonstration in Algiers on 19th February. He is also under a travel ban that has prevented him from meeting and building links with international trade unions. SNAPAP is one of the most active organisations in Algeria and is supported by both the unemployed and the private sector workers. It is a major challenge to the State's own Union Générale des Travailleurs Algériens (UGTA), which tends to look after the interests of the government rather than the workers.

The Malaoui incident has reminded Algerian activists that the regime has never held back from eliminating those who stand in its way; whether they be the president, as in the case of Mohamed Boudiaf (Chairman of the High Council of State), assassinated by the DRS in 1992, or leading members of the security establishment who are not prepared to bend to their corrupt and ruthless methods, such as General Saidi Fodil, who was assassinated by the DRS in a 'car accident' in 1996.

Since those days, many other prominent opponents of the regime have simply been 'eliminated'. We remind readers of Ahmed Kerroumi, a professor at the University of Oran and member of the opposition Democratic and Social Movement party and the Oran section of the National Coordination for Change and Democracy, whose body was found on 23rd April, four days after he reportedly disappeared. As expected, no one has been charged with his murder.

For more news and expert analysis about Algeria, please see Algeria Focus and Algeria Politics & Security.

© 2011 Menas Associates

Algeria: Survey reveals Sonatrach disatisfaction

In May, Sonatrach PDG Nordine Cherouati ordered a survey of the social climate within Sonatrach which discovered a general malaise in some 20 industrial centres around the whole country. The 50-page document describes “anger” and “general discontent” which it said was more to do with “a long term bad situation” rather than any specific problem of the moment. It blamed the company's management for neglecting the “human factor” so that “kindness and consideration have given place to a tense and stressful environment”. The authors of the report described encounters with “people bullied and suffering from injustices who deplored the lack of any dynamism and momentum to unite their efforts and to stimulate them”.

Sonatrach workers are, of course, oppressed by the high cost of living combined with low salaries and uncertain bonuses and other benefits. Other grievances include poor working conditions, with a lack of spare parts and necessary tools. The health and safety regime is inadequate; protective equipment and safety standards are not in place. Much of this is blamed on centralised and outdated management and a tendering process which favours the very lowest offers.

Another structural inadequacy brought out by the report is the control which the Union Générale des Travailleurs Algériens (UGTA) national trade union has over decisions and social life within the company, which it says has only “fosterered subjectivism and non-professionalism.”

The precise meaning of this criticism is hard to define. However, it appears to be related to the fact that the UGTA is less a channel for expression of genuine workers' demands as a mechanism to help management keep the workforce in check. Cherouati's survey has landed him with a list of demands. Workers want the system of remuneration introduced in 2008 to be scrapped, base salaries to be increased and bonuses and allowances to be reorganised. Other demands include reforms to promotion schemes, retirement allowances, healthcare and training.

For more news and expert analysis about Algeria, please see Algeria Focus and Algeria Politics & Security.

© 2011 Menas Associates