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Sudan military commission reactivates trade unions

May 23, 2019 at 12:22 am

Sudanese demonstrators gather to protest demanding a civilian transition government in front of military headquarters outside the army headquarters in Khartoum, Sudan on 3 May, 2019 [Mahmoud Hjaj/Anadolu Agency]

Sudan Transitional Military Council (TMC) reversed its decision Wednesday to freeze former trade unions loyal to ousted President Omer Al-Bashir, Anadolu reports.

“[The] TMC has reviewed many of its exceptional decisions in the past period and accordingly it has decided to lift the freeze of the trade unions in compliance with its international obligations regarding the independence of the trade unions,” the group said.

The decision comes amid calls by the Sudan Professional Association (SPA) for a general strike after talks between the TMC and the opposition alliance of the Change and Freedom failed to achieve a breakthrough on the composition of a joint transitional council and the chairmanship of the council between the military and civilians.

Read: Why did the talks between Sudan’s Transitional Military Council and protest groups break down?

Also, deputy chairman of the TMC, Mohamed Hamdan Hemedti, decided to pay salaries of civil aviation workers for an additional three months, amid threats of a strike and the closure of the country’s airspace by aviation workers.

And the Change and Freedom field committee that managed sit-ins in front of army headquarters  decided to suspend an agreement with the TMC and the railway’s administration after a protester died Tuesday.“We lost Mohamed Ahmed Alamin under the train on Tuesday, due to the carelessness of the administration of the railways and its non-care of the safety of the people” the group said Wednesday.“We decided to close the railway to save the lives of our people and until an investigation is opened to understand the circumstances of the death incident” it added.