May 1st in Burkina: wages, security and democratic freedoms at the heart of the demands
View of downtown Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso.
AFP PHOTO/ SIA KAMBOU
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
In Burkina Faso, workers marched on May 1 to denounce the threats to individual and collective freedoms, and to demand an improvement in their income.
Reopening of mines closed following the terrorist threat, security of populations and their property and the fight against corruption are also points of demand for unions.
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With our correspondent in Ouagadougou
,
Yaya Boudani
Thousands of workers, gathered around the Union Action Unit (UAS) marched in the streets of the capital.
To the head of government, they handed over their minimum protest platform.
Unions are primarily concerned about threats to democratic freedoms.
“
UAS is strongly committed to respecting democratic and trade union freedoms.
This is all the more important as we have noted attacks on democratic and trade union freedoms: banning of demonstrations, announcement of restrictions on freedoms going as far as the extension of the state of emergency to the entire territory
” , says Guy Olivier Ouedraogo, spokesperson for the Union Action Unit.
Given the soaring prices on the markets and the decline in the purchasing power of the populations, the unions are asking for an increase in the guaranteed interprofessional minimum wage.
“
Our claim is the SMIG at 60,000
F
instead of
33,594
F. Then we have the drop in prices of basic necessities which are currently soaring.
We have the demand for wage increases at the private level because here too, at the private level, wages have been practically frozen since 1992
!
», would like to underline Norbert Wangré, head of the press commission of the Trade Union Action Unit.
Read also: Burkina Faso: installation of the Orientation and Monitoring Council for National Reconciliation and Social Cohesion
The head of government reassured the workers that their concerns will be examined with the greatest attention and that their resolution will be done within the limits of the means available.
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Burkina Faso
Employment and Labor