Tunis: Secretary-General of the Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT), Noureddine Taboubi, on Wednesday called on the government to resume dialogue and negotiations. Speaking at the plenary session of the 112th session of the International Labour Conference in Geneva, Taboubi reiterated the demand for respect for trade union rights and freedoms. He stressed the need to implement the agreements signed between the workers' organisation and the government. The UGTT General Secretary highlighted the need to protect the credibility of the social dialogue and to respect collective bargaining, criticising "the lack of commitment to implement the agreements signed and to dialogue and negotiation with the trade unions". He said that the attacks on the independence of trade union work and the credibility of social dialogue and collective bargaining had severely damaged workers' rights and gains. The conclusion of contracts and charters, whether at national or international level, requires an honest and equal dialogu e between the parties concerned, without dictation or any form of exclusion or pressure, he added. He pointed to the urgent need for an international social contract in line with the changes in the world of work and the major imbalances that have arisen in recent decades at national and international levels. In recent years, he said, social contracts have been concluded which have made it possible to achieve a climate of stability, to develop the means of production, to create a suitable climate for scientific and technological progress, to improve living standards and services for the benefit of millions of people. This has brought many rights for the workers, first of all the right to trade unions and the right to collective bargaining. However, the social welfare, scientific progress and economic prosperity achieved were not consistent with the principles of justice and equality. The UGTT General Secretary called on the Director General of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to send a committee to investigate the consequences of the war waged by the Zionist occupying army against the Palestinian people and the productive parties in Gaza and the West Bank. It called on the ILO to press for the immediate cessation of the war, the withdrawal of the Zionist occupation forces, the recognition of the state of Palestine with full rights at the United Nations and practical measures to enshrine the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and the establishment of their state with Al-Quds as its capital. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse