In Guinea, the country’s 13 trade union centers have called on all sectors, private, public and informal, for a general and indefinite strike starting this Monday, February 26. A walkout to demand a reduction in the prices of basic foodstuffs, but also an end to media censorship. Several radio and television stations are shut down in Guinea, no longer able to broadcast their programs.
2 mins
with our correspondent in Conakry, Matthias Raynal
Calls for dialogue from the authorities, employers and religious leaders have so far yielded no results. The centrals maintained their slogan and, one after the other, the unions of the main sectors of the Guinean economy announced that they were joining the general and indefinite strike.
Read alsoGuinea: trade union centers agree on a general strike
Workers in mines, banks, telecoms, money transfer services, even motorcycle taxis are called to strike. The Forces Vives de Guinée, an alliance which brings together the main political parties and civil society organizations, asked their supporters to respect the slogan.
It remains to be seen whether these instructions will be followed. This first day will be a test for the union movement and the junta which will experience its first general strike since his takeover on September 5, 2021. With the dissolution of the government, it was the secretary general of the Ministry of Labor who inherited the file. He called on the union centers to accept the outstretched hand of the authorities.
The unions also demand, as a preliminary to the opening of negotiations, the release of Sékou Jamal Pendessa. The secretary general of the Union of Press Professionals of Guinea was sentenced last week to three months in prison.
Read alsoGuinea: SPPG calls journalists to strike after conviction of Sékou Jamal Pendessa
Always quick to rally protest movements, the young people of the Le Prince road began to set up blockades last night, in several neighborhoods, to prevent traffic on this expressway which crosses Conakry.
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