DELAL RAMAZAN

Hasakah- The Laborers’ Union of North and East Syria was established in Hasakah, city of Jazira Canton in 2016. The union has committees such as economy, education and women committees.

The Women's Committee aims to prevent the exploitation of women's labor, promote women’s participation in the labor force, eliminate challenges faced by women at workplaces and develop society by putting projects into practice.

 ‘We work to defend the rights of women’

Hamida Ahmed, Co-chair of the Laborers’ Union of North and East Syria, told us that the union was established on May 1, 2016 aiming at preventing labor exploitation and defending the rights of laborers.

“We have formed committees to defend the rights of seasonal workers, healthcare workers and other workers. The Women’s Committee carries out activities to defend and protect the rights of women in the labor force. We aim to develop social justice and democracy. Every worker over the age of 18 can become a member of our union. We provide funds to our members and we make sure every worker has health insurance.”

Call to be member of the union

Hamida Ahmed called on all workers to be a member of the union, “so that we can defend their rights. Our union protects them from exploitation, provides legal support to them and defends their rights.”

‘We create new job opportunities for women’

 Hasakah is well known for its agriculture. Hanan Muhammad, Co-chair of the Seasonal Workers’ Committee, told us that the committee aimed to defend the rights of seasonal workers and organize training courses for them. “We also make great efforts to create new job opportunities for women. We visit women at their workplaces to hear the problems faced by them at their workplaces. We hold regular meetings every two months to learn their working conditions and their wages.”

The committee has signed an employment contract with the Agricultural Development, Feed and Seed Company to provide job opportunities for people, especially women. “We have employed more than 400 women by opening sewing workshops in Hasakah. We aim to provide more job opportunities to women. We struggle to defend the rights of workers.”