Somalia to commemorate Labour Day

Somali workers on Monday, May 1 will turn out to celebrate the International Workers Day popularly known as Labour Day.

The ceremony will be organized by Federation of Somali Trade Unions (FESTU) in Mogadishu and the event is expected to be attended by ministers, MPs, some members of trade union leaders and civil society.

The commemoration will hear testimonies of daily abuses, beatings, murder and rape working men and women are being subjected to.

Irregular payments for Somali army and workers has long been a major concern that sparked rage and grumbling among government workers who had to bear brunt of the pay crisis, with the bulk of them had to stay almost a year without salaries.

In Somalia, the Civil service commission barely exists in the country where state workers often complain of abuses by their superiors; with many others often avoid expressing their discontents in public, leaving their fate at the mercy of their bosses.