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Unifor National President Jerry Dias wrote a letter of congratulations on behalf of all Unifor members to the Tunisia General Labour Union (UGTT) as they accepted a Nobel Peace Prize as a key member of the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet.
The Quartet is a group of four organizations that were central in the attempts to build a pluralistic democracy in Tunisia in the wake of the Jasmine Revolution of 2011. The head of the Nobel Committee noted that the Quartet “established an alternative peaceful political process at a time when the country was on the brink of civil war".
Unifor feels a special connection to this achievement because of the opportunity for a leadership group from our union to visit Tunisia at the time of the 2015 World Social Forum and to meet with Brother Kacem Afaya, General Secretary of the International Department of the UGTT. The delegation was able to gain an appreciation of the challenges facing the revolution, the continuing violence and the threats against labour activists.
“The role of the Quartet in leading a social dialogue for democracy is now well known around the world,” said Dias in the letter to UGTT Secretary General Houcine Abassi. “Trade union members everywhere take great pride in knowing that the UGTT played a central role in restoring stability and security to Tunisia, including you and the courageous struggle you have waged for social progress.”
