Members of the parliamentary commission on health and social affairs, examined, Wednesday, during a hearing session with the Minister of Social Affairs, Mohamed Trabelsi, on the settlement of the status of construction workers, that the agreement signed between the government and the Tunisian General Labor Union (UGTT) opposes the provisions of Articles 12 and 40 of the Constitution which stipulate the State’s commitment to social justice and labour rights for each citizen.
During a hearing held on Wednesday at parliament, the Minister of Social Affairs called on the parliamentary health committee to grant a legislative initiative authorizing the recruitment of construction workers whose age has passed 45 years, through the amendment of the law on the general statute of the public service, according to a press release published on Tuesday by the parliament.
He evoked that recruitment in the civil service concerns, according to the agreement signed between the government and the UGTT, workers whose age does not surpass 45 years, affirming that workers in the age group between 45 and 55 years old and who reject the terms of the agreement, will be granted a departure check worth 20 thousand dinars to be cashed at the end of March 2021.
This provision, with a total cost estimated at 350 million dinars, adds Trabelsi, will be accompanied by other decisions, including the maintenance of health coverage and the payment by the State of the corresponding contributions during the minimum period required by the National Social Security Fund (CNSS).
Trabelsi further explained that construction workers are not affiliated with the civil service, noting that it is not a settlement process as long as they are paid through the regional council.
The members of the committee underlined in their interventions, the need to consider the question as a settlement of the situation rather than new recruitment and to calculate the effective date of taking up office as the reference date, calling for the removal of the word “Compulsory” of the text of the agreement and to leave the choice to those who want to leave voluntarily ”.
They also stressed the need not to deal with the case of site workers from the point of view of the age group, at the risk of “generating social disruption”, advocating the operation of a filtering and cross-referencing process. data during recruitments.
Some members of the committee recalled in this regard that the minimum age for recruitment into the public service is determined by the law on public service, while the maximum age is fixed by government decree, considering that the agreement may not contradict an explicit legal text.
What's happening in Tunisia?
Subscribe to our Youtube channel for updates.
