Minister of Communication Amar Belhimer called, Thursday, in Algiers, for the sector’s professional unions to accompany the press family and defend its rights, stressing the need to “strict adherence” to the provisions of the law regulating labor relations, as well as “stimulating the spirit of dialogue”.
In a speech during a meeting with the Association of Algiers Journalists at the El-Aurassi Hotel, on the occasion of the celebration of the National Day of the Press and the 59th anniversary of the extension of sovereignty over radio and television, Belhimer said: “I particularly call upon the role of professional unions, particularly the Syndicate of Algerian Journalists, to accompany the press family and defend their rights”
The Minister of Communication mentioned the “considerable effort” made by the ministry to re-employ a number of journalists and professionals who were legally linked to private channels, stressing the necessity of “strict adherence to the provisions of the law relating to the regulation of labor relations, as well as stimulating the spirit of dialogue and consultation between all stakeholders and actors within a professional environment…so that such violations are not repeated and in order to ensure the free and responsible exercise of the press.”
Belhimer stopped at the “excesses” practiced against workers and journalists through private channels in terms of “their receiving low wages and not declaring them to the social security services and thus depriving them of the right to insurance and retirement,” highlighting “the extent of the social suffering faced by these workers and journalists, which is what drives us all to defend them based on the legal arsenal regulating labor relations with clarity and fairness.”
In a related context, the Minister of Communication pointed out that the press in general, and electronic media in particular, has become one of “the ingredients for gaining the confidence of the citizen and confronting the bargains and misinformation that hostile and paid websites use against our country, which is making its way steadily and transparently towards democratic development and comprehensive social development.”
On the other hand, the minister called on website owners, including young people, to “develop methods of coordination between them in order to upgrade their performance and ensure their spread, especially by winning subscribers from outside the country.” He also called on them to “find additional sources of support within the limits of applicable legislation and regulation,” which would – as he said – “contribute to the expansion of the recruitment process in a manner that preserves the rights of workers in the field.”
