labor unions in Bahrain

The right to form a labor union is an important part of freedom of association, and is recognized in Article 23 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Given that people spend half their waking hours at work, if they don't have the right to form a group there for the advancement and protection of their interests, how free are they really? Unsurprisingly, politically repressive regimes tend to ban labor unions or otherwise place severe restrictions on them. The Middle East being one of the most politically repressive regions in the world, it's also one of the worst regions for labor rights. In 2002, Bahrain took an important step towards democracy by recognizing the right to form unions. The unions that have been founded in the last year have now formed the General Federation of Bahrain Workers Unions (think of it as Bahrain's AFL-CIO). The next step for Bahrain's labor movement will be to win the right for government employees to form unions - a right, incidentally, that is denied under the law to government employees in some U.S. states such as North Carolina (scroll down to section X).