- Says It’s Now in Dialogue With Employer of Sacked Unionists
THE International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF) has expressed appreciation to all those who rose in support of its global campaign to reinstate sacked Guinean trade union leaders who were sacked for defending their co-worker who accidentally broke a flower pot.
In an email message to online supporters of the campaign, Sue Longley, IUF General Secretary said over 3, 500 people sent letters to the employers, IFC’s Interim Managing Director/Executive Vice President/Chief Operating Officer as well as the Acting General Manager of the Sheraton Grand Conakry.
“Thank you so much to the over 3500 of you who sent letters to the IFC’s Interim Managing Director/Executive Vice President/Chief Operating Officer as well as the Acting General Manager of the Sheraton Grand Conakry demanding that the union leaders be reinstated immediately.
“We are pleased to report that after weeks of silence, the International Finance Corporation has requested a meeting with the IUF in the spirit of “constructive dialogue.”
“However, we all know that dialogue is not reinstatement.
“And so, we will keep you updated as the struggle continues, and again, thank you for your quick response!
“Finally, thank you to all who were able to attend Wednesday’s IUF Africa Zoom Rally in support of the Sheraton Grand Conakry union leaders! With support from the Guinean labor movement, our African affiliates in the HRCT sector, ITUC, ACTRAV-ILO, Global Labor Justice-International Labor Rights Forum, and Jobs with Justice, the campaign is growing and getting stronger each day!” Longley stated.
Flashback
The IUF had launched a global campaign for the reinstatement of the two Guinean trade union leaders, Amadou Diallo and Alhassane Diallo, General Secretary and Deputy General Secretary respectively, of the Sheraton Grand Conakry Hotel Union whose employment were terminated on October 7, 2020, a few months after they were elected to lead the union.
IUF, in the campaign, appealed to trade unionists across the world to send protest letters to the IFC’s Interim Managing Director/Executive Vice President/Chief Operating Officer as well as the Acting General Manager of the Sheraton Grand Conakry demanding that the union leaders be reinstated immediately.
In the letter signed by IUF’s General Secretary, Sue Longley, and Massimo Frattini, International Officer; Hotel, Restaurant, and Tourism; the global federation of trade unions with members in a variety of industries, many of which relate to food processing, states:
“Only a few months after winning the union election , Sheraton Grand Conakry hotel union General Secretary Amadou Diallo and Deputy General Secretary Alhassane Diallo terminated by their employer on October 7 for defending their co-worker who accidentally broke a flower pot. Check out the photo petition with over 150 of Amadou and Alhassane’s coworkers who have taken photos with signs demanding that management reinstate their union leaders.
“Please SIGN BELOW to send a letter to the IFC’s Interim Managing Director/Executive Vice President/Chief Operating Officer as well as the Acting General Manager of the Sheraton Grand Conakry demanding that the union leaders be reinstated immediately.
“The hotel, owned by the Topaz group, was opened in 2016 with a significant investment from the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC), an international financial institution that offers investments to encourage private sector development in developing countries at preferential loan rates. The hotel is managed by the largest hotel chain in the world, Marriott, where the IUF has an ongoing global campaign. Despite the IFC’s Performance Standards, a set of rules intended to protect workers, and despite multiple attempts by the IUF to prevent the dismissal of the union leaders, the IFC has chosen to allow violations of its own Performance Standards as well as ILO Conventions 87, 89, 135.
“We also invite you to join IUF and IUF Africa’s Zoom Rally for the Reinstatement of Amadou and Alhassane next Wednesday December 2nd at 4pm CET as part of the Global Week of Action for Hotel Workers. To register for the rally, please contact iuf@iuf.org”
IUF said the crisis began on August 18, 2020, when Mohamed Saliou Sampil, a worker at the Sheraton Grand Conakry, accidentally broke a flower pot in the lobby.
On August 26, Sampil was summoned by the management to a pre-termination interview, but the General Secretary, Amadou Diallo, and the Deputy General Secretary, Alhassane Diallo, met with the management to express their serious disagreement with the proposed termination of their colleague. Within days, hotel management suspended the two union leaders without pay.
On September 16, the management terminated Sampil’s employment despite his apology for breaking the pot. On September 28, the union presented a petition signed by majority of the hotel workers in support of Sampil.
However, on October 7, the management terminated the General Secretary and Deputy General Secretary’s employments.
“The IUF will not tolerate such brazen violations of trade union rights, and so the IUF and its affiliates stand ready to launch our campaign for the reinstatement of General Secretary Amadou Diallo and Deputy General Secretary Alhassane Diallo,” says IUF General Secretary Sue Longley.
“We must fight hard together. The importance of this struggle is to stop union-busting, because it kills workers hope and undermines democracy,” adds General Secretary Amadou Diallo.
According to the IUF, “the hotel, owned by the Topaz group, was opened in 2016 with a significant investment from the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC), an international financial institution that offers investments to encourage private sector development in developing countries at preferential loan rates. The hotel is managed by the largest hotel chain in the world, Marriott, where the IUF has an ongoing global campaign. Despite the IFC’s Performance Standards, a set of rules intended to protect workers, and despite multiple attempts by the IUF to prevent the dismissal of the union leaders, the IFC has chosen to allow violations of its own Performance Standards as well as ILO Conventions 87, 98 and 135.”
