Egypt

In its 2021 annual report, the Egyptian trade union organisation the Center for Trade Union and Workers’ Services (CTUWS) recorded eleven cases of arbitrary arrest of workers, five cases of detention in an unknown location, and eighteen cases of pre-trial detention. The reasons for these violations were the strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike – a right guaranteed by the constitution and the law – or because of opinions about workers’ rights.
In total, the CTUWS registered 8,041 violations of workers’ rights throughout the country during 2021, including arbitrary dismissal, forced resignation and delayed payment of salaries.

The right to organise and the right to strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike are still restricted in law and in practice. A new labour law was under discussion in parliament in November and December 2021, but the process is slow and the Center for Trade Union and Workers’ Services (CTUWS) fears it will preserve existing contradictions and ambiguities. The law of 2017 and its amended version of 2019 refer to “the” trade union committee, making it unclear whether more than one trade union is allowed in the workplace. In (the many) workplaces where a branch of the official General Federation of Egyptian Trade Unions (GFETU) exists, it is very difficult to get the employer to submit the papers for the establishment of another union. Equally, the right to strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike , protected in Law 12 of 2003, contains a broad definition of essential services essential services Services the interruption of which would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population. Can include the hospital sector, electricity and water supply services, and air traffic control. Strikes can be restricted or even prohibited in essential services.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework
where strikes are not permitted and also contains ambiguous language that makes it easy for employers to dismiss strikers. Labour courts are more likely to rule in the employer’s favour.

On 11 November 2021, Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ratified amendments to a number of laws which The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) asserts is a further erosion of rights and civil liberties for Egyptian citizens. The amendments passed into law on 23 November 2021 codify and cement a permanent and ongoing state of emergency in Egypt. These legislative changes will allow more civilians to be referred to military courts, further erode guarantees for a fair trial, and place additional restrictions on freedom of expression and academic freedom.

On 1 August, Eqyptian president Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi approved new legislation which allows public administrations to dismiss any civil servant suspected of belonging to groups classified as “terrorist” in Egypt, as well as those who “harm public services or the economic interests of the state”.
The law is aimed at the dismissal of employees with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, who in recent months have been responsible for a number of violent acts against civilians. However, critics of the law say that the its ambiguous and wide-ranging provisions are raising fears that any slightly critical voice within the public sector could be targeted.
While the text of the law does not explicitly mention the Muslim Brotherhood, its second article authorises the dismissal of any public servant public servant See civil servant whose name appears on the terrorist list. But as Kamal Abu Aita, former minister for labour argues, in a country where any opponent or trade unionist who is arrested can be charged without hesitation with belonging to a terrorist group or sharing the objectives of a terrorist group, “the circle of public employees targeted by the legislation exceeds those who belong to the Muslim Brotherhood.”
According to Ahmed al-Naggar, former editor-in-chief of the government-owned daily Al-Ahram, the law aims to dismiss any official whom the regime finds “undesirable”, as it judges employees by “their political intentions and positions, not by their actions”. According to activists and members of opposition parties, Article 1 of the law presents even greater danger. It stipulates that all public employees who have “failed to meet their duties, as part of a bid to harm public services or the economic interests of the state” will be dismissed.
“This article represents a trap for employees. It paves the way for any public servant public servant See civil servant to be punished for calling for or participating in a strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike or in any independent trade union activities. According to this law, they would be failing in their duties and hindering production or the functioning of state services,” warns the Socialist Popular Alliance Party (SPAP).

On 28 September 2021, on the tenth day of a workers’ strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike over delayed wages, security forces arrested three workers of Universal for Home and Electrical Appliances from their homes.
About 2,000 workers had begun a sit-in at the company’s headquarters in the industrial zone in 6 October City following the death of a colleague from a heart attack on 14 September after working overtime because of financial pressure. Workers had not been paid for two months.
The company’s general manager told the press that the company had been suffering from a major decline in sales since the flotation of the Egyptian currency in 2016. Wage payments had been delayed but a payment schedule had been agreed, he claimed, at a meeting between Universal’s managers, representatives of the Manpower Ministry and worker representatives. Minutes from the meeting, leaked to the press, showed that workers were not present. The payment schedule had not been adhered to.

On 28 September, security forces surrounded the sit-in, closed the gates, and prevented workers from going out even to buy food. Hours earlier, security forces raided the houses of three workers – Mahmoud Ahmed Haridy, Saeed Abdel Qader and Said Mohamed Abdel Latif – who were absent from the sit-in. Mahmoud Ahmed Haridy was recovering at home after having fallen into a diabetic coma.
Mr Haridy’s daughter followed her father to the Warraq police station and inquired after him, but officers who were at her home less than an hour earlier denied knowledge of the incident. A non-commissioned officer advised her to go to Imbaba police station, where she was told that her father had been taken to the headquarters of the National Security Agency, a special police force notorious for human rights violations, involved in policing so-called “national security threats”, including independent labour movements.

In September 2021, 2,000 workers from the Universal Group Co., a manufacturer of home appliances, organised a protest, demanding the payment of their wages for July and August and other benefits that had been suspended for a long time. These workers represented five factories out of the nine in the group. The workers especially denounced management violation of the agreement signed in October 2019 with the Ministry of Manpower in which management committed to paying wages. At that time, the Ministry had bailed out the company and paid the 5,000 workers out of the emergency fund for a period of six months to encourage the company not to lay off workers, but the group proceeded to force the workers to resign.

Lord International, a razor blade manufacturer, dismissed 64 workers between 1 August and 12 September 2021 for taking industrial action industrial action Any form of action taken by a group of workers, a union or an employer during an industrial dispute to gain concessions from the other party, e.g. a strike, go-slow or an overtime ban, or a lockout on the part of the employer. .
The strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike began on 26 July after payments handed out in June were substantially lower than expected, with cuts to the normal rate of monthly profit shares and to bonuses for production and for the Eid holiday. About 2,000 workers took part, demanding the minimum wage, permanent contracts and an increase in their shift allowance.
At the beginning of the dispute, they contacted the non-governmental Relations Office, affiliated with the Ministry of Manpower. The Relations Office sided with the employer, however, and demanded that the workers return to work without any guarantee of achieving their demands. (Earlier attempts at forming a union in the company had led to the dismissal of the organiser.)
Finally, in the negotiations brokered by Ministry of Manpower representatives, Lord company management agreed verbally to raise their bottom-line wage to LE2,400, a minimum set for the first time ever in Egypt by the National Council for Wages at the end of June. The average wage of workers with ten years in the company was only LE2,000. Other demands were not agreed to.
The workers called off the strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike on 1 August, but the company went ahead with the mass dismissals. Management also referred 84 workers for internal investigation, accusing them of taking part in an illegal strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike , incitement to violence, and causing severe material and moral damage. Employees who were allowed to return to work had five days’ wages deducted from their salaries. Management questioned those under investigation aggressively about the identities of alleged strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike instigators and threatened them if they did not cooperate. The workers were forced to sign warnings issued that they would be dismissed if they undertook similar action in future.

Razor manufacturer Lord for Industry and Trade terminated the employment of 38 workers who took part in a strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike involving 2,000 workers at the company. The strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike began in late July 2021 and brought production in two out of the company’s three factories to a halt. In a statement, the company also said that it had referred “some” of the striking workers for internal investigation.
The striking workers are calling for transparency around the company’s annual profits, a minimum profit share rate and for their annually renewable contracts to be changed to permanent. They also demanded that management guarantee protesting workers would not face disciplinary action or dismissal. “We have been deprived of a representative union,” said a worker, reiterating points made by a former colleague who led efforts to form a union and who was later fired by the company.
In a statement, the company announced that workers who had been identified as the “instigators of the strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike ” would be fired or suspended, and that those suspended could also face disciplinary measures and further investigation. The company said it had tried to “convince the workers to stop committing these illegal violations”, citing what it said was the opinion of the labour relations office at the Labour Ministry that the strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike was unlawful.

Abdel-Wahab Radwan, vice chairman of the Syndicate Committee of Public Transport Authority Employees, was arrested in May 2021 because of his trade union activities.
The unionist was still in pretrial detention in 2022, pending the hearing of his case. He was charged with being a member of a terrorist group and misusing social media.

On 11 May 2021, the Alexandria Spinning and Weaving Company refused to allow Ashraf Nassef, head of the workers’ trade union committee, and Faraj Al-Najjar, the union’s treasurer, to enter the company to speak to their members.
This followed an incident on 4 March 2021 when management transferred seven members of the company’s union committee from their technical jobs to administrative security because of their union activity. The seven were named as:
 Faraj Saeed, vice-chairman of the Trade Union Committee
 Mahmoud Ibrahim El-Gohari, treasurer of the Trade Union Committee
 Mohamed Al-Masry, board member
 Mohamed Mohamed Ibrahim, assistant treasurer
 Mohamed Youssef, board member
 Magdy Marei, board member
 Tariq Bakr, board member
The workers submitted a complaint to the Labour Office, whose response was that the employer had the right to transfer and delegate workers without their consent when in financial crisis. However, as the workers pointed out, far from being in crisis, the company had made approximately 80 million Egyptian pounds (about 4.4 million euros) in profit over the past year.

On 28 March 2021, Rasha Mustafa Abdel-Zaher, a delegate for the union committee for real estate tax workers in Suez, was forced to end a union meeting after being subjected to severe pressure.
The union had rented a room at the Family Club headquarters in Port Tawfik for an emergency session of their committee. The meeting began at 2:00 p.m. but was interrupted by a security officer from the Real Estate Tax Directorate, who claimed the meeting was illegal and pressured the management of the club into ending the meeting, which they did at about 3:00 p.m.
The security officer also made threats against Rasha Mustafa Abdel-Zaher and her family so as to force her to resign from the union committee. Although Rasha initially agreed, she later retracted her resignation and retained her union membership.

Unionists have condemned the decree, issued by the head of the executive committee for the Adult Education Authority and announced in February, dismissing Ahmed Abdel Mordi, the head of the (independent) union committee for the workers in the Adult Education Authority.
The union has a history of defending workers’ rights in the adult education sector. They demanded the implementation of the prime minister’s decision number 1627 of 2019, which would have guaranteed a minimum wage in the sector. They have also investigated and reported on issues of corruption.
Unionists claim that the Adult Education Authority lodged a series of arbitrary measures against Mr Mordi and the members of its board instead of participating in open dialogue or collective negotiations. In addition, the head of the authority submitted a statement to the National Security Agency accusing Ahmed Abdel Mordi of inciting workers.
As a result, on 23 November 2019, security forces arrested and detained Mr Mordi for 24 hours. His bonuses were simultaneously stopped on the pretext that he is dedicated solely to working for the union and is not deserving of these bonuses. This action is in clear breach of article 49 of the law regarding organising organising The process of forming or joining a trade union, or inducing other workers to form or join one. union organisations (law number 213) for the year 2017.

The head of the Adult Education Authority also extended these arbitrary measures to other members of the union. The union treasurer was transferred to a different role within the organisation, resulting in a decrease in his total wages exceeding E£1000 monthly.
Tensions between the union and the Adult Education Authority culminated in the dismissal of Ahmed Abdel Mordi, the president of the union, from his job. The dismissal was based on claims that the union head had inappropriately dedicated time to union work since 23 August 2019.
This decision has been challenged by the union on the basis that the head of the Adult Education Authority is not authorised to make this decision. Article 52 of the law regarding organising organising The process of forming or joining a trade union, or inducing other workers to form or join one. union organisations (law number 213) of 2017 states that the decision to terminate a union head must be made by a specialised court.

Protesting workers at a branch of the state-owned Delta Company for Fertilisers and Chemical Industries have been subject to a severe crackdown from the authorities.
In early January 2021, workers at Delta Company’s Daqahlia branch entered the second month of a continuous sit-in to oppose the closure and relocation of their workplace to Suez.
In late December 2020, 13 workers were arrested from their homes by security forces. Five of those arrested, including Mahmoud Sabry, a member elected by workers as their representative on the company’s board of directors, were released on the Sunday.
On 3 January 2021, the eight remaining workers were brought before the State Security Prosecution in Cairo and issued with 15-day remand detention orders. The charges the workers face remain unknown.
These arrests have signaled a refusal to bargain with the workers at Delta Company by the Public Enterprise Ministry and holding company, which has also refused the mediation mediation A process halfway between conciliation and arbitration, in mediation a neutral third party assists the disputing parties in reaching a settlement to an industrial dispute by suggesting possible, non-binding solutions.

See arbitration, conciliation efforts of a prominent official in the National Security Agency.

Cambodian Airport Management Service (CAMS), of which Vinci (an airport construction and investment company) holds major shares, had been refusing to renew the collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
agreement with the Cambodian Transport Workers’ Federation (CTWF) unions in the Siem Reap and Phnom Penh locations, despite their being certified as the most representative unions in January and April 2019. Negotiations had been postponed and came to a halt under COVID-19, allowing the management to impose work suspensions as of April 2020 unilaterally in all three airports without consulting the union. Many union members were targeted for terminations or early retirement, including 70 members in Phnom Penh, 21 in Siem Reap and four at Sihanoukville airport in 2020.
CAMS bypassed the union and informed staff of the retrenchment of 161 employees on 4 November 2020, 121 of whom were union members. Management only disclosed the list of retrenched workers to the unions on 24 November during a meeting with the ministry of labour. CTWF was forced to react to the retrenchment plan quickly. All furlough proposals were rejected. CAMS approached the workers individually to force them to accept the compensation package. The Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training has ignored the CTWF and affiliates’ accusation of CAMS’s labour law violations – violations under article 95 on collective lay-off procedure. By January 2021, Vinci had terminated 130 workers from the three airports. Source: CFDT and CGT letters to Vinci; ITUC letter to MOLVT

In May 2019, the company National Steel Industries, part of the the Orascom group, tried to force 250 striking workers to sign an official document stating that they would give up all their financial rights before returning to work. Workers participating in the May strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike were accused of disrupting production, violating freedom of work and blocking the company’s work.
Fifty of these workers refused to sign the document in question and continued to strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike to demand their compensation. In 2020, 26 of the striking workers were ordered to appear before the State Security Court on September 30. The company filed a complaint against them on the basis of Law 34 of the year 2011. This law mandates a prison sentence and a fine of up to 50,000 pounds against the accused.

Union leaders announced the continuation of a sit-in protest at the Horizon Investment and Industrial Development Company (Ceramica Granito). The original sit-in began on Thursday, 6 August 2020, to protest the administration’s disregard for union demands, including increased wages, larger meal allowance, and a fair distribution of surplus profits.
On 11 August 2020, the general manager of the company met with union leaders and expressed agreement to their demands, promising implementation by the beginning of January 2021. Immediately after this meeting and the union’s announcement of the end of the sit-in, the company dismissed several key union leaders and protesting workers.
Granito workers have responded with a continuance of industrial action industrial action Any form of action taken by a group of workers, a union or an employer during an industrial dispute to gain concessions from the other party, e.g. a strike, go-slow or an overtime ban, or a lockout on the part of the employer. .

Workers of the company National Steel Industries in Ain Sukhna, Egypt, resumed strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike activity after a pause during the COVID-19 lockdown.
Workers announced the initial strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike on 10 May 2020, due to the non-disbursement of incentives and supplementary fund dues as well as investigations into union members.
According to press interviews with a number of striking workers, the reduction or cancelation of the financial entitlements of workers became frequent under the pretext of the economic crisis.
Despite an agreement between company management, the workers and the Ministry of Manpower to establish a union, the management manipulated the workers’ financial rights under the threat of dismissal and initiated disciplinary proceedings against five members of the union after suspending them.
Workers expressed their concerns about the dissolution of the union, citing similarities between the actions of National Steel Industries and the situation of workers in the Dubai Port.

The Trade Union and Workers Services House denounced on its Facebook page the continued restrictions on the work of the independent union independent union A trade union that is not affiliated to a national union. Can also be a union that is not dominated by an employer.

See yellow union

for workers in the General Authority for Adult Education and confirmed that the president of the authority issued an administrative decision to demote and transfer the treasurer of the Trade Union Committee, Izzat Hamza Ali al-Sayed, to work as an employee in the Personnel Affairs Department at the branch’s head. Mr Izzat Hamza Ali al-Sayed is the director of the adult education department in Abu Kabir, Sharkia governorate. Consequently, he saw his wage reduced by over E£1,000.

The Center for Trade and Union Services appealed to the prime minister in his capacity as chairman of the Board of Directors of the Authority, and the minister of education in his capacity as supervisor of the authority, to quickly intervene to stop these practices towards members of the Trade Union Committee, which are a clear violation of the principle of freedom of association freedom of association The right to form and join the trade union of one’s choosing as well as the right of unions to operate freely and carry out their activities without undue interference.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework .

On 6 October, the city’s public prosecutor’s office arrested seven workers of Eastern Company for four days as part of an investigation it launched into workers abstaining from work, incitement of strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike action and obstruction of work. Seventeen workers in total have been summoned before the investigating judge so far.

On 10 October, the workers had organised a protest rally at the headquarters of the company to demand the dismissal of the president, Hani Aman, and the delegate member, Imed Eddine Mustapha. The workers blocked production units to put pressure on the administration to increase daily premiums and to maintain health insurance.

On 14 October, the city prosecutor’s office ordered the release of 17 workers from Eastern Company on bail with a deposit of E£1000 for each worker.

Trade unionists Rached Kamel and Mustapha Massri, who work for Suez Station for Public Transport, were arrested following a protest organised by the workers. Trade union sources stated that the workers took to the streets to protest against the social and material problems they are experiencing, recalling that they have not received any wage increase in five years and their bonuses have been frozen since 2014.

The same sources indicated that the workers also denounced the blatant interference of the security services in the trade union elections. Activists and trade unionists from Suez called for the release of all those arrested, payment of the bonuses, and no longer requiring unions and workers to support the system.

On 20 July 2019, Egyptian security forces stormed the Middle Egypt Company for Spinning and Textile headquarters, where hundreds of workers had been on strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike since 15 July. Four workers – Amrou Farouk Saad, Imad Mansour, Islam Yahya and Ayman Osman – were also arrested at their homes on charges of gathering and disrupting work.

The company’s workers in al-Minya had been demanding a raise in remuneration from 10 to 200 Egyptian pounds (E£) as well as increases to other allowances and assurances about annual leave entitlements.

Labour journalist Hisham Fouad and lawyer Haitham Mohamedain were detained by Egypt’s military regime on trumped-up charges in the most recent wave of arrests targeting critics of the Egyptian government’s regime.

Labour lawyer Haitham Mohamedain was detained for a second time after being wrongfully accused of violating his probation terms after being released from prison in October. On 13 May 2019, he was summoned to the police station in Saf, south of Cairo, and detained without access to a lawyer, before being brought before prosecutors and remanded in custody for 15 days on charges of “aiding a terrorist group in achieving its goals”. Mostafa Maher, a former political activist, was also detained separately, prompting fears of a fresh crackdown on the regime’s critics.

At least eight other activists, including labour journalist Hisham Fouad, were seized by security forces on 25 June. According to a statement by the Egyptian interior ministry, they are facing charges of directing an “economic conspiracy” aimed at siphoning funds from 19 companies towards activities planned by the banned opposition group the Muslim Brotherhood. Former Social Democratic Party MP and lawyer Ziyad al-Alimi, and Omar El-Shenety, the executive director of Multiples Group Investment Bank, were reported to be among those arrested.

The Alexandria branch of the Egyptian Seafarers’ Union was constantly refused registration during 2018 and has had its activities suspended. It is alleged that this is because it is an active and outspoken branch and is in opposition to the government.
Furthermore, the Egyptian Seafarers’ Union has been dissolved, except for the Suez and Port Said branches, due to the new law 213/2017. According to the new laws, all union bank accounts are frozen.

Egypt’s Ministry of Manpower purposely excluded hundreds of independent union independent union A trade union that is not affiliated to a national union. Can also be a union that is not dominated by an employer.

See yellow union

members seeking election to trade union committees in the recent elections which took place between 15 and 31 May 2018. This is a clear attempt to reduce the influence of independent unions and to increase the power of the state-controlled Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF).
Hundreds of candidates were unjustly disqualified for failing to submit documents that are not required in the official regulations, and many others were disqualified without any reason provided. Other candidates were advised that their applications had never been received despite submitting their applications before the deadline. For example, Amr Shahat Gad El Rab, president of the trade union committee of workers in public transport, received a receipt when he submitted his paperwork in support of his candidacy; however, he was later told on 18 May 2018 that his file had been lost and that he was therefore disqualified from participating in the election. Tareq Qo’eb, president of the real estate taxes trade union in Qalioubia, said that he had been excluded from the election because he had failed to provide his education credentials. The regulations do not require prospective candidates to submit documents relating to their education. Amongst 19 military production factories, 300 out of the 1,000 union members who had been nominated for election to the union committee were disqualified from the election. None of these members were provided reasons for their disqualification.
Fathy Morsi from the Ahram Consumer Complexes nominated himself as a candidate to be head of his committee. Two days before the election date, Morsi was told that the folders of 14 of 53 candidates, including his own, had been lost, despite all candidates turning in their documents together and being given proof of receipt. Morsi filed an appeal against his exclusion, and his name was listed on the ballot for a position as a member of the committee, rather than its head. On election day, another candidate who is believed to be affiliated with the ETUF was elected unopposed as head of the committee.

Workers of Bisco Misr entered into an open strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike on Saturday, 21 April 2018, in protest against the Board of Directors’ decision not to distribute annual profits among workers. Workers from the Alexandria branch joined the strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike on 29 April and did not return to work until 6 May. At the end of the week-long strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike , security services in Cairo arrested six workers in the Amiri area on charges of organising organising The process of forming or joining a trade union, or inducing other workers to form or join one. a protest without a license. These workers were Mahmoud Abdel-Baki, driver; Hany Al-Bushei, driver; Raafat Madboli; Ahmed Abu Hashim; and Alaa Abomena, weaver worker. The workers were held for 60 days.

In a conference on 3 June organised by the Centre for Trade Unions and Workers Services (CTUWS) to address concerns about the elections, Kamal Abbas, head of the CTUWS, said that not only did the 2018 elections fall short of “fair,” they were the worst labour elections Egypt had ever seen. During the press conference, workers recounted a number of violations that they witnessed during their respective committee elections. The list of violations Abbas outlined during the conference included individuals being excluded in order to determine election outcomes for ETUF’s benefit, bias against independent unions on the part of the committee overseeing the elections (which included a Manpower Ministry and an ETUF representative) and delays in releasing candidate lists which denied candidates the right to appeal. He also noted the delay in opening designated committees for voting on voting days, the presence of unstamped documents, and a lack of oversight and transparency in vote counting.

A new trade union law (Law 213/2017), approved by the Egyptian Parliament on 5 December 2017, undermines freedom of association freedom of association The right to form and join the trade union of one’s choosing as well as the right of unions to operate freely and carry out their activities without undue interference.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework , the right to organise and operate a free and independent trade union and the right to freely engage in collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
.
Under implementing regulations issued on March 14, all independent unions were dissolved and given 60 days (until 14 May 2018) to register their organisation under the new law. The regulations contained complex paperwork requirements and procedures that made it extremely difficult to comply with. It is clear from the experience reported by independent unions that this process was designed to deliberately hinder them from registering their status, and was unfairly biased towards unions supported by the government-affiliated General Federation of Trade Unions. Out of 1000 independent unions, only 122 were able to successfully register their status under the new laws within the timeframe.

There are reports of the Ministry of Labour refusing applications because of trivial errors, and of unreasonably long and unexplained delays. The head of the General Union for Real Estate Tax Workers, Tariq Kaib, said that his union’s paperwork was rejected after the Ministry of Labour demanded to see documents that were not required by the regulations. He said that he believed that it was a deliberate attempt to prevent his union from being registered. Many other independent unions reported unreasonable and unjust demands from the Ministry of Manpower during the conciliation conciliation An attempt by a neutral third party, a conciliator, to aid the settling of an industrial dispute by improving communications, offering advice and interpreting issues to bring the disputing parties to a point where they can reconcile their differences. The conciliator does not take as active a role as a mediator or an arbitrator.

See arbitration, mediation process that saw their applications rejected.
Mohamed Abu Jricha, chairman of the Independent Workers’ Union of the Egyptian Telecommunication Company, said that his union faced a series of delays and obstacles when attempting to register. He and a number of other union leaders reported attempts by the Ministry of Manpower to pressure independent unions to join with the ETUF, telling them that it would be the only way that they would be able to reconcile their status under the new law.

On 3 February 2018, the workers of Ceramica La Beauté and Majestic entered into a strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike to protest against their employer’s failure to pay an annual salary increase and to provide paid time off on official holidays as required by Egyptian labour law. The striking workers’ claims also included increasing hazard allowances, access to a health care card and changes to the election procedure to form trade union committees.
After the workers refused to return to work, management turned off the gas and electricity in the factory. The next day, management provided the police with details of the striking workers, and on 17 February 2018 seven workers were arrested. During the arrest, one worker, Mohamed Abdel Hakim, sustained severe injuries after jumping from a height of three stories. He remained under arrest in the hospital. On 25 May 2018, the workers were charged with inciting the strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike and vandalising the factory and were sentenced to 15 days’ detention. On the same day, the Labour Office issued a statement declaring the strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike to be illegal. In a subsequent negotiation session at the Ministry of Manpower, the workers agreed to withdraw some of their demands in exchange for the police agreeing to stop pursuing their colleagues. The Ministry promised workers to communicate with management to resolve the crisis. The Ministry required the workers to sign a pledge not to strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike .

On October 23 2017, Ahmed Abdel Mordi, president of the Adult Education Authority independent trade union, announced that he was beginning a sit-in at the main offices of the Ministry of Education protesting against the series of coercive measures taken against him and his trade union. The president of the Adult Education Authority had decided to prevent the trade union from collecting the trade union membership fees and addressed a letter to Misr Bank requesting to freeze all transactions on the trade union bank account; the Bank accepted this request although such measure is contradictory to every banking policies or traditions. However, things did not stop there and Ahmed Abdel Mordi was subject to an arbitrary transfer from his workplace in Cairo to the city of Kafr Shokr in Menoufia governorate. Moreover, decree number 682 was issued on 25/9/2017 to deduct five days from his salary without even opening any procedures of inquiry with him. In a new escalation of retaliation, another decree (747) was issued on 16 October 2017 for his transfer during a period of one year in the city of Aswan.

The Prime Minister issued an order to refer cases of protest, strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike and sit-in to State Security Courts after they had been tried by the general courts. The General Trade Union of Petroleum Workers strongly rejected this decision – a decision that is in blatant violation of internationally recognised rights of trade unions and workers.

On October 4 2017, Memphis Company for Medicines decided to close the doors in front of the workers who were about to enter in strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike demanding the disbursement of their financial dues. The pretext advanced by the Company was the fear of damages that striking workers may cause. In addition, the company administration threatened of closure if workers persisted in their demands and declared that the enterprise has suffered enormous losses during 2017.

On 22 November the police arrested 15 workers at Sinmar plant in South Port Said under the pretext of closing the cooling unit to avoid exposing the factory to an environmental disaster or an explosion. In fact, workers had initiated a two-week strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike to demand the reinstatement of 24 workers who had been dismissed for requesting the implementation of environmental safety measures for workers and the surrounding population. According to the workers, the management rejected all negotiation proposals and filed a complaint against workers for protesting.

In an unprecedented and unjustified escalation of retaliation, the security services arrested on 15 September 2017 several prominent leaders of independent trade unions, invaded the houses of others in an intensive campaign that created a state of terror and fear among their families and children.
18 employees of the Authority of Real Estate Taxes had notified the Kasr El Nil police station about their intention to organise a peaceful sit-in on 19 September in front of their offices, in order to demand the long overdue readjustment of the system of incentives following the adoption of Law no. 81/2016 on civil servants. Instead of taking the necessary measures to protect the sit-in, security services launched a wide wave of arrests and repression.
The following employees were arrested: Tarek El Kashef (General Taxes/Giza), Mohamed Bassiouni Hassan Badr (General Taxes/governorate of Gharbiya), Said Ali Gamei (Real Estate Taxes/Kafr El Zayyat, governorate of Gharbiya), Ayman Fathi El Sabbagh (Real Estate Taxes/Berket El Sab’a, governorate of Menoufiya), Mahmoud Mohamed Zeidan (Real Estate Taxes/Abou tig, governorate of Assiout), Mohamed El Hendawi Said (Company of Electricity/Sammanoud, governorate of Gharbiya), Abd El Ghoneimi Qaddous (Company of Electricity/Sammanoud, governorate of Gharbiya), as well as another employee of the General Taxes in Port-Said.
In addition, the security services arrested Fatma Fouad, president of the trade union of workers in the Sales Taxes, on 17 September 2017, and took her to the headquarters of the National Security in Abbassieh where she remained in custody the whole night before being released the next day in the afternoon.
The house of Tarek Moustafa Ke’eib, head of the Sales Taxes trade union, was raided by police forces and he was arrested two days later in front of the Kafr Shukr hospital where we was heading to get his medical treatment. Despite his poor health status and the weak accusations against him, the Misdemeanor Court of Appeal decided to keep Ke’eib under arrest for fifteen days.
Both Tarek El Kashef and Mohamed Bassiouni were kept in custody for four days and charged by the prosecutor of Giza for inciting striking and demonstration, misusing social media and being affiliated to a group banned by law and by the Constitution.
In the court session held on 27 September 2017, the Misdemeanor Court of Appeal decided to release both trade union leaders. As usual, the prosecutor office presented an appeal to the Court decision. The other trade union leaders remained in jail until 16 October 2017 when they were released by the Court against a bail of 5,000 Egyptian pounds each.

On 29 August 2017, the Company of Potable Water and Sewage requested that the department of legal affairs initiate an inquiry against Mohamed Herdan, president of the federation of workers in the water sector, who had launched a campaign for the payment of overdue pay raises following the adoption of a presidential decree. At the same time, the company deducted two months’ salary to Herdan who referred the case to the Labour force office. The Court will examine whether the wage penalty is legal or not.

On 27 July 2017, the security forces arrested a group of workers in Aswan Cement Factory accused of instigating strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike and obstructing work. Workers had entered into an open sit-in to protest the lack of safety measures on the site after a serious industrial incident occurred on 23 July (two workers were seriously burned by the spilling of dangerous chemicals while three workers succumbed to their injuries). On 30 July 2017, the Aswan Court decided to release eight workers and refused to validate the accusations raised against them.

On 6 July 2017, the Helwan Misdemeanor Court decided to keep Walid Ragab in custody for 15 days because he had allegedly incited other workers to strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike at the National Cement Factory. The factory had filed a complaint against four workers accusing them of instigating a strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike in the factory. The four workers were arrested and questioned by the police. They still face prosecution.

32 workers from Tourah Cement Company were sentenced to three years in prison on charges of “illegal protest”. In April, workers had started a sit-in to protest the company’s refusal to implement a court ruling recognizing that these workers, who had been employed for 10 to 15 years as casual workers by the company, should be granted permanent contracts. After an 55-day sit-in, Tourah Cement Company still refused to abide by the court ruling or pay the outstanding wages owed to the workers. Instead, it called 70 private security agents to disperse the sit-in, forcibly removing striking workers and arresting them. The 32 workers who were charged with resisting the security forced. While in detention in the Maadi police station, the striking workers were tortured. The three-year sentence was reduced by the Cairo misdemeanour appeals court to two-months in prison on charges of illegal protest.

On 15 June 2017, workers of the Faragallah food industries in Borg El Arab went on strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike to claim the payment of their benefits. However, the company rejected their claim and called security forces to disperse workers, accusing them of vandalism. Workers filed a complaint against the company with the Labour force office of Borg El Arab. After obtaining promises from the company that it would meet their demands, workers stopped striking. However, on 16 July 2017, one month after the strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike , a decree was issued to transfer 45 workers who had been photographed during the strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike from their workplace in Borg El Arab to several factories located in Sharm El Sheikh, El Obour and Giza.

On 14 June 2017, the workers in Alexandria Company for Water resorted to strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike , demanding the payment of the 10% annual increase. However, on the fifth day of their strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike , Ahmed Gaber, president of the company, filed a complaint against them. The police subsequently summoned 24 workers for questioning. Workers submitted a request for mediation mediation A process halfway between conciliation and arbitration, in mediation a neutral third party assists the disputing parties in reaching a settlement to an industrial dispute by suggesting possible, non-binding solutions.

See arbitration, conciliation with the Presidency and the secretariat of the Parliament.

Tourah Cement Company: Security forces stormed the sit-in of security workers at Tourah Cement Company and arrested 22 workers who were then taken to the police station and charged with incitement to strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike . They are still under arrest in the prison in Helwan.

They case is very important, as it is an example of what temporary workers face. They work for a sub-contractor with low salaries. Based on Article 79 of the Labour Law, a year ago there was a final verdict which ruled that the workers have the right to a permanent employment contract. Because the workers depend on their service period, they demanded to have permanent contracts; the administration then decided to move them all to another sub-contractor to drop their service period. The workers therefore went on strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike for about two months (“55 days”) till the special forces forcibly stopped the strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike , arresting 32 of the striking workers.

Three trade unionists were arbitrarily dismissed by Sinmar Chemical and Petrochemical Factory in Port Said for showing solidarity with a colleague. This colleague, who had been hospitalised for work injury, was detained by the hospital because he was unable to pay the bills. The Sinmar Chemical and Petrochemical Factory had just informed the worker that he had exceeded his rights under the company health insurance and that they would no longer pay for his treatment, which was subsequently interrupted. The trade union committee interceded on his behalf to the factory management, which reacted by dismissing three trade unionists. A memorandum was filed at the Ministry of Manpower following an interview with the Dispute Resolution Officer at the Ministry, and at the Directorate of Manpower in Port Said. Union members continue to claim reinstatement, as their dismissal is contrary to Section 48 of Law No. 35 of 1976.

This 1 May 2017 the Egyptian government, under the pretext of security concerns, prevented independent unions from holding May Day celebrations. In the current context of severe anti-union discrimination anti-union discrimination Any practice that disadvantages a worker or a group of workers on grounds of their past, current or prospective trade union membership, their legitimate trade union activities, or their use of trade union services. Can constitute dismissal, transfer, demotion, harassment and the like.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework

and state repression, this anti-terrorism narrative is clearly a factitious excuse used to silence the independent labour movement and to crack down on freedom of association freedom of association The right to form and join the trade union of one’s choosing as well as the right of unions to operate freely and carry out their activities without undue interference.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework and other fundamental civil and political rights.

On 23 April security forces arrested nine workers at the Egypt Telecom in Ramses after organising organising The process of forming or joining a trade union, or inducing other workers to form or join one. a protest in front of the company on the charges of “obstruction of work” and decided to detain them for four days pending investigations. Telecom Egypt employees demanded that the company’s managing director and CEO intervene for the release of their colleagues, but no action was taken by the company.

Three workers of the Al-Basel Palace sugar factory were arrested and detained for four days in application of the Prosecutor’s order. An investigation took place and the three workers were charged with disruption of production and being a threat to the free exercise of industrial activity. This legal prosecution took place because the two workers were trying to organise a strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike action in the enterprise, demanding an increase in wages.

On 23 September, six workers of the General Transport Authority and members of the Independent Trade Union of Public Transport were arrested by security forces who picked them up from their homes. On the day they were arrested, a strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike of General Transport Authority workers was supposed to start in order to demand an increase of profit sharing from 13 to 17 per cent and the return of the Authority under the control of the Ministry of Transport rather than Cairo governorate. Instead, the six workers (Tariq Mohammed Youssef Mustafa, Tareq Mohammed Iacustrine, Ayman Abdel Tawab Salem Mahmoud, Mohammad Hashim Farghali Suleiman, Mohammed Abdul Khaliq Awad Allah and Ahmad Mahmoud Ahmed Mahmoud) disappeared for one week and neither their family nor their colleagues were informed where they were apprehended. On 29 September, they were found in Tora prison while the media was spreading false news regarding the fall of a Muslim Brotherhood cell at the National Security Agency’s headquarters where the six arrested workers were allegedly being held. The six workers were kept in detention by the prosecutor on the charge of belonging to the banned group of the Muslim Brotherhood. On 17 November, the wives of the six detained workers went to the National Council for Human Rights to raise awareness about the arbitrary detention of their husbands. Unfortunately, this is not the first incident under the Al-Sisi government where public transport workers have made demands regarding their working conditions and were then accused of conspiring against the government.

In an unprecedented incident, the treasurer of the union of workers in Exxon Mobil – Mr. Yasser Mahmoud Al Sayed - was fired because he denounced the company’s corruption and facilitated the prosecution of the crime by the attorney general.

With the help of Mr. Al Sayed, the attorney general of Western Alexandria filed a case against the CEO and head of the governing board of the Abou Al Hol company for oils and cleaners, the manager of the warehouse of Exxon Mobile, Mr. Ahmed Maher, and the CEO and head of the governing board of the Ezz Al Dekhila company for Iron and Steel. This fraud occurred in violation of law No. 95 of 1945 as amended by law No. 92 of 2012.

Furthermore, Exxon Mobil, engaged in anti-union behaviour on more than one occasion. As declared by the head of the company independent trade union, Mr. Shokry Ahmed Kishta, Exxon Mobil unilaterally withdrew from the collective agreement, which had put an end to the abusive practice of subcontracting. The dismissal of Yasser Mahmoud Al Said is only one example of the illicit behavior of the Alexandrian Company. In fact, Mr. Al Said was illegally dismissed via a phone call without receiving any previous warning or justification. Furthermore, being a trade unionist, Mr. Al Said fell under the scope of a special anti-union discrimination anti-union discrimination Any practice that disadvantages a worker or a group of workers on grounds of their past, current or prospective trade union membership, their legitimate trade union activities, or their use of trade union services. Can constitute dismissal, transfer, demotion, harassment and the like.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework

procedure that was not respected. According to Egyptian law, in order for such a dismissal to be legal, it needs to be preceded by investigations to be conducted in the presence of a representative of the trade union board.

On 2 August 2016, the administration board of Ceramica Cleopatra Company in Suez issued Decision No.50 ordering the dismissal of ten workers who were members of the trade union board and the removal of their names from the lists of workers of the Company. The ten dismissed workers were Reda Mohamed Saad, Omar Salah Ibrahim, Yasser Mustafa, Mohammed Abdel Gawad, Jamal Mohammed Attia, Hamada Tawfiq Mohammed, Walid Saad, Sami Gamal Shawky and Abdul Rahman Badawi.

The management justified this decision by saying that it was a measure taken in order to grant security and stability in the company. However, taking into account the numerous complaints filed by the administration accusing members of the trade union board of destructing and obstructing the company’s work and productivity, the retaliatory nature of the dismissal is clear. Trade union members, in fact, had long been demanding that company management implement a collective agreement signed in 2012. In particular, despite the pressure, the members of the trade union committee refused to withdraw the demand asking for allocation of benefits to workers, allocations of risks, paid meals and other incentives. Furthermore, fired workers refused to withdraw the power of attorney conferred by 5,400 workers to a lawyer in order to defend their interests and grant the implementation of the 2012 collective agreement. Therefore, it is clear that such a discriminatory dismissal was a violation of the right to freedom of association freedom of association The right to form and join the trade union of one’s choosing as well as the right of unions to operate freely and carry out their activities without undue interference.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework and collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
, considering that the company failed to implement a collective agreement signed four years previously.

More than 1,500 workers of the Egypt International Company for Ceramic participated in a strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike organised in the Industrial District of the city of Quesna. Workers demanded to be included in profit sharing, as well as demanding the increase in the practically non-existent safety and health protection on the job. An enormous number of company workers suffered because of chest-related symptoms as a result of the prolonged exposure – with no protection whatsoever - to the dust deriving from the production of tiles and ceramics. In response to this collective action, the company decided, instead of opening dialogue, to shut down production and fire ten workers on the grounds of incitement to strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike .

On 3 February, the body of this young Italian PhD student, who was researching the independent trade union movement in Egypt, was found in a ditch on the outskirts of Cairo. He had disappeared on 25 January, the anniversary of the “Egyptian revolution”. He has just published an article on the Nena News site on strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike action in Egypt and the search for trade union unity. His murder sparked international outrage. In a protest letter, the ITUC underlined, “It is clear from the intensification of measures hostile to freedom and the freedoms of trade unions in particular, that Giulio was considered a threat to the Egyptian government.” At the end of March, the authorities announced that police had shot down five men identified as the perpetrators of the crime, but, for many, the murder bears the hallmark of the Egyptian security services. According to human rights organisations, hundreds of Egyptians were the victims of forced disappearances during the last few months of 2015 alone. In the best of cases, they reappear days or weeks later. Many, however, do not have this good fortune and are left to rot or die in high security prisons

On 14 January 2016, in the run-up to the fifth anniversary of the “25 January revolution”, Dr Taher Mokhtar, a member of the Egyptian doctors’ union, and two of his friends were arrested in their home in Cairo for possession of subversive documents. They were, in fact, leaflets denouncing the health conditions in prisons, an issue the trade unionist had been actively working on at the request of his organisation. On 2 March, despite an international campaign, the three men were detained for a further 45 days.
It should be noted that the trade union had defied the ban on demonstrations, on 12 February, when several thousand doctors gathered in front of their union head office to protest against police violence and, more particularly, the assault by two police officers on two doctors in a hospital.

Today, as in the past, the right to strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike is subject to the approval of the official trade union centre trade union centre A central organisation at the national, regional or district level consisting of affiliated trade unions. Often denotes a national federation or confederation. , the Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF). In other words, legal strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike action is not, in fact, possible, since this organisation backed by the government is relentless in its opposition to strikes and protests. Despite the persistence of strong social protest and regular strikes, all “illegal”, trade union freedoms have been in steady decline since 2013. The pro-government media (the only media able operate freely) severely criticises trade union activism, depicting it as an act of treason against the motherland and presenting union activists as suspected collaborators of the Muslim Brotherhood.

The absence of ITUC affiliated organisations and the country’s unenviable position among the ranks of the world’s ten worst countries in terms of workers’ rights in 2015 confirm any concerns the trade union movement may have regarding respect for trade union freedoms. The hopes that arose in the wake of the January 2011 revolution have faded. There has been no legislative improvement, quite the contrary. The only serious discussions on the adoption of a new trade union law following the overthrow of the Mubarak regime failed to deliver any tangible results. Hundreds of independent trade unions emerged and a presidential decree on trade union freedoms granted them a degree of legitimacy, but this was only temporary. It failed to translate into formal recognition recognition The designation by a government agency of a union as the bargaining agent for workers in a given bargaining unit, or acceptance by an employer that its employees can be collectively represented by a union. that would allow them to develop structures, to be represented with voting rights within leading national bodies such as the National Wages Council and to operate fully as organisations defending workers’ rights. Despite hopes that the wave of social unrest following the ousting of the Muslim Brotherhood in late June 2013 might give renewed impetus to the independent trade union movement, exactly the opposite occurred. In the name of patriotism and the fight against terrorism, all voices of opposition were branded as suspect. As a result, independent trade unionism was either suppressed or stifled. The leaders of these new organisations were “co-opted” by the authorities. The appointment of Kamal Abu-Eita, a leading activist within the national union movement, as the head of the Ministry of Manpower should therefore be seen as part of the state’s take-over strategy..

As the year was coming to a close, the industrial sector saw a new wave of protest. The demands of thousands of striking workers were almost always related to bonuses owed, wage increases, the application of judicial orders and the reinstatement of hundreds of dismissed workers. Once again, the right to strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike was violated, as seen at the Petrotrade factory, where 10,000 workers laid down their tools to demand better working conditions and the reinstatement of their unfairly dismissed colleagues. The employer’s response was to sack 165 strikers, to call in the police and bring charges against 30 “strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike leaders” acting in violation of the 2013 law restricting protests.

Although the 2015 report of the ILO International Labour Organization A tripartite United Nations (UN) agency established in 1919 to promote working and living conditions. The main international body charged with developing and overseeing international labour standards.

See tripartism, ITUC Guide to international trade union rights Committee on Freedom of Association freedom of association The right to form and join the trade union of one’s choosing as well as the right of unions to operate freely and carry out their activities without undue interference.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework requests that “the draft labour law be adopted as a matter of priority, giving clear legislative protection to the numerous newly formed independent trade unions and ensuring full respect for freedom of association freedom of association The right to form and join the trade union of one’s choosing as well as the right of unions to operate freely and carry out their activities without undue interference.

See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework rights”, the attacks against these organisations have since been stepped up.

At the end of 2015, the Centre for Trade Unions and Workers’ Services (CTUWS) denounced a renewed attempt to muzzle independent trade unions. In an official document, the Presidency recommended that his ministers hold monthly meetings with ETUF representatives, in the presence of the media, to highlight the government’s supposed resolve to defend workers’ rights.

As part of the surge to quash trade unionism, on 1 March, a government directive gave all state institutions instructions not to recognise independent trade unions nor to deal with them, and to invalidate any seals appearing on their documents. These organisations are also fighting for their survival in the courts. A critical verdict is awaited in 2016 in the court case pitting an official trade union against an independent union independent union A trade union that is not affiliated to a national union. Can also be a union that is not dominated by an employer.

See yellow union

in the finance sector.

Finally, at political level, during a cabinet reshuffle on March 2016, the post of Manpower Minister was given to Mohamed Saafan, who was formerly vice-president of the ETUF and who has never concealed his hostility towards independent trade unions. The appointment of a leading figure from the official trade union centre trade union centre A central organisation at the national, regional or district level consisting of affiliated trade unions. Often denotes a national federation or confederation. marks the return of a long tradition that had been left behind for five years.

On 8 April, the ILO International Labour Organization A tripartite United Nations (UN) agency established in 1919 to promote working and living conditions. The main international body charged with developing and overseeing international labour standards.

See tripartism, ITUC Guide to international trade union rights , through its director-general, Guy Ryder, expressed its grave concern over the threats against human and trade union rights in a country that has ratified Conventions 87 and 98. A few days earlier, the ILO International Labour Organization A tripartite United Nations (UN) agency established in 1919 to promote working and living conditions. The main international body charged with developing and overseeing international labour standards.

See tripartism, ITUC Guide to international trade union rights Workers’ Group had already issued a declaration in this respect. It denounced the “systematic attacks” led by the Labour Ministry against independent trade unions. The ETUF reacted by describing these criticisms as “unwarranted interference in Egyptian affairs”.

In an interview published on 26 April by the independent online news website Mada Masr, the head of the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights (ECESR), Nadeem Mansour, pointed out that while public opinion remains focused on political parties and activists, the attacks meted out against trade unions are sometimes much fiercer. He points out that workers are not only the victims of threats and sanctions such as transfers or dismissals but are also beaten up, imprisoned and, in the most extreme cases, tortured or killed. According to a research paper from September 2015 drawn up by Fatima Ramadan and Amr Adly for the Carnegie Centre in the Middle East, thousands of workplace activists and trade unionists have been unfairly dismissed over the last two years. It would be impossible to provide a detailed list of all these cases.

On 10 August, in Cairo, thousands of workers challenged the authorities and the very harsh restrictions on freedom of assembly by gathering in front of the headquarters of Egypt’s Press Syndicate, historically a focal point of social protest as, by definition, it implies that the protests it hosts will be given press coverage. The demonstrators, public sector workers (finance, social insurance, railways, etc.) affiliated to independent trade unions were protesting against the new Civil Service Law that came into force in late July without any labour consultation and that, as many feared, was set to push down wage levels. The new law also places the six to seven million public sector workers in a weaker position relative to their employers. A ban was imposed on a similar demonstration planned for 17 August. September 5 was therefore set as the new date for the public protest against this law.

The context surrounding the 5 September protest speaks volumes about the state of freedom of expression and assembly in Egypt in 2015. The organisers were denied authorisation to carry out their action on Tahrir Square or in front of the offices of the Press Syndicate. They were forced to fall back on Fustat Park, one of only two locations authorised by Cairo’s governor, both quite isolated, difficult to access and well out of public view. According to eyewitnesses, busloads of protestors, some of whom came from the provinces, were blocked and turned away by the police. At the location itself, security forces denied access to demonstrators under the pretext that maintenance works were underway. This was later denied. After negotiating for an hour, they were finally granted access through a secondary entrance. In the days leading up to the protest, countless attempts were made by the authorities, the official trade union centre trade union centre A central organisation at the national, regional or district level consisting of affiliated trade unions. Often denotes a national federation or confederation. and pro-government media to intimidate the organisers and anyone planning to take part in the demonstration.

On 22 July, Abu Bakr Khalar, founder of the Electronic Media Syndicate, was arrested at the offices of the General Syndicate for Press, Printing and Advertising. Since then, Abu Bakr Khalar has been kept behind bars. He is accused of belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood, promoting its ideology and obtaining funds from Qatar to this end, charges that he fully denies. The Electronic Media Syndicate was created in 2011 and is affiliated to the independent trade union centre trade union centre A central organisation at the national, regional or district level consisting of affiliated trade unions. Often denotes a national federation or confederation. EFITU. In December, it received the backing of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), which drew attention to the fact that, after China, Egypt was the country that imprisoned the biggest number of journalists in 2015.

On 2 June, soldiers opened fire on workers at army owned Al Arish cement factory, killing one and wounding three others. A workplace accident marked the starting point of this fatal blunder. Workers tried to provide assistance to one of their colleagues who had been seriously wounded by heavy equipment. In response to the company’s negligence, a crowd gathered in front of the management’s offices. Several soldiers intervened, randomly opening fire on the crowd. The army and state media claimed the ambulance that arrived on the scene to remove the four wounded workers was attacked by terrorists. This official version however failed to stand up to the video footage and witness accounts widely broadcast on social media. Already in 2014, eight workers had lost their lives in a workplace accident. Al Arish is located in Sinai, a region described by human rights organisations as a rights-free zone.

Following the decision of an administrative court on 28 April, three public servants from Garous, in the Monufia governorate, were sent into retirement and 14 others saw their promotions blocked for two years because of their participation in a strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike , allegedly preventing their public service from operating. The court justified its sentence without appeal on the basis of the sharia, “the foremost source of law”, despite the fact that it does not contain any direct reference to striking. According to certain experts, this would be the first time that a civil court would resort to the sharia to deliver a verdict regarding strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike action, leading to fears that this decision may set a precedent.
The day before, during the official May Day celebrations held at the headquarters of the police academy, President el-Sissi, in the presence of ETUF leaders alone, stressed the importance of productivity. The representatives of the highly servile ETUF presented a code of conduct stating, among other things, that “Egypt’s workers are opposed to strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike action and confirm their commitment to social dialogue social dialogue Discussion and co-operation between the social partners on matters of common interest, such as economic and social policy. Involves participation by the state where tripartism is practice. ”. As for independent trade unions and labour activists, they were unable to mobilise for a May Day march in Cairo, due to their organisational weaknesses, the legal barriers and the sizeable presence of antiriot police.

In January, four workers from the state owned Steel and Iron Company in Helwan were transferred to a branch of the same company in Minya, 250 kilometres from their homes. The move was a reprisal taken by their employer who claimed they had incited their colleagues to strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike , obtained illegal foreign funding and threatened the national economy and national security. A few weeks later, Ayman Al Fakhri, an activist arrested in December 2014, received a six-month prison sentence.

On 25 March, in Alexandria, security forces arrested five union activists on the third day of a national strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike by postal workers. Arrest warrants were issued for seven other strikers. The head of the post office in Alexandria reportedly accused them not only of being the instigators of the work stoppages but also of being members of the Muslim Brotherhood, an organisation that has been outlawed in Egypt. These claims have, however, been rejected by the arrested workers’ families, who denounced the police raids carried out on their homes.

On 16 April, Kamal al-Fayoumi, a well-known labour activist employed at the Misr Spinning and Weaving Company, in Mahalla al Kubra, a hotbed of social protest, was sacked for inciting strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike action. A few days later, four more workers were suspended for the same reason. Many of the 18,000 employees are tired of their management’s endless broken promises and are questioning the legitimacy of the ETUF-affiliated company union company union Can be used to describe either an enterprise union or a yellow union. .

On 27 April, Yasser Sayyid Abu al-Saud, who worked for Egypt Gas, in Giza, was arrested close to his home for taking part in a three-week strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike against wage cuts. The ECESR denounced the charges brought against the worker as being politically motivated. He was freed on bail one month later. The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information also documented a number of cases in which companies “fabricated charges” against striking trade unionists.

On 10 November 2014, Mahmoud Rehan, vice president of the Independent Trade Union of Workers at Cairo Airport Company was arrested and detained at the Al Mozah police station. Rehan had been involved in exposing corruption scandals at the airport and organising organising The process of forming or joining a trade union, or inducing other workers to form or join one. protests. On 4 December 2014 the Al Nozha Misdemeanor court decided Rehan was innocent. He had been detained for 24 consecutive days.

Tens of protesting workers were injured and 28 arrested when security forces attacked 500 striking mosque employees who staged a protest outside the Ministry of Awqaf (Religious Endowments) on 3 December 2014. They were protesting at being sacked after refusing to sign documents agreeing to new terms of employment and renouncing social insurance rights.

Moustafa Al Masri, president of the independent union independent union A trade union that is not affiliated to a national union. Can also be a union that is not dominated by an employer.

See yellow union

at Alico Co. a subsidiary of Orascom group owned by Sawiris, was dismissed on 1 December 2014 for his union activities, notably for calling for the payment of the workers’ incentives and bonuses in line with the company’s regulations. Another eight workers were also dismissed and 98 arbitrarily transferred from Suez to Cairo.

Members of the independent union independent union A trade union that is not affiliated to a national union. Can also be a union that is not dominated by an employer.

See yellow union

at the Drinking Water & Sanitation Company in Qena had their request to establish a housing association for workers rejected because the General Authority for Construction and Housing Cooperatives refused to recognise their union. The letter dated 28 October 2014, and addressed to the General Secretary of the Qena governorate, stated: “Please note that we have received the letter of Mr. Khairy Omar Mohamed, General Secretary of the independent union independent union A trade union that is not affiliated to a national union. Can also be a union that is not dominated by an employer.

See yellow union

of the Drinking Water & Sanitation Company in Qena. Please note that the coordination committee decision was not to permit the establishment of a housing association for members of the independent unions, as these unions are not organised by law. Only members of the union at the company may have a permit for establishing a housing association.”

On 16 October 2014 a penalty of ten days’ salary was imposed on Saied Saad Al Deen, a workers’ leader at the Iron and Steel Company, for inciting a protest on 21 July 2014 and for insulting the company Chairman. On 22 October a ten-day salary penalty was also imposed on Mohamed Omar, who had already been suspended for two months, for inciting workers to go on strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike and for insulting the Chairman. Two other workers, Ayman Ahmed Hefny and Mahoud Abdel Rahman, were sacked and three, Mahmoud Abdel Dayem, Mohamed Nasr and Emad Abdel Haleem, were arbitrarily transferred.

Security forces used excessive force to end a strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike at the Alex Weaving and Spinning Company in Aboud on 1 October 2014. They used bullets and tear gas against the protestors, injuring five workers, including Mohamed Kamal Mahmoud, who was shot in the leg. Four workers were arrested and forced to say that their injuries were caused by a fight between two families.

Workers of the company, which has 3,000 employees, organised a protest in front of their factory after submitting several complaints to the labour office and after trying several times to negotiate the payment of salary arrears. The company Chairman did not attend any of the negotiating sessions, however, and ignored the workers’ demands. When workers decided to conduct a peaceful protest in front of the factory, the Chairman summoned the police, who arrived immediately and began shooting at the protestors.

The Abdin Misdemeanor Court sentenced 13 employees of the Ministry of Awkaf (Religious Endowments) to two years imprisonment on 13 September 2014. The 13 workers, all employees at the Kaft Al Sheikh Mosque, were arrested on 16 April 2014 while protesting outside the Ministry. They were seeking recognition recognition The designation by a government agency of a union as the bargaining agent for workers in a given bargaining unit, or acceptance by an employer that its employees can be collectively represented by a union. as Ministry workers. They were apparently arrested for insulting a Ministry employee.

The Naga Maday Municipality transferred four executive committee members of its independent workers’ union, Galal Ayed, Khalaf Ahmed Mohamed, Tharwat Mohamed Balash and Abdel Hakeem Amer Ali, to outlying villages against their will. The order came from the President of the municipality on 4 August 2014, after they demanded payment of overdue workers’ compensation. The Municipality President said he did not recognise the existence of the independent unions and threatened the four with imprisonment for inciting workers to go into strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike . The four went on hunger strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike but called it off on the third day after it was agreed they could return to their posts.

On 24 August 2014, the management of the Al Nahar Al Khaled Ready- Made Garments Company in Port Said ordered the transfer of 14 workers to locations that did not match the nature of their work. The transferred workers included members of the executive committee of the independent union independent union A trade union that is not affiliated to a national union. Can also be a union that is not dominated by an employer.

See yellow union

. The union had been pressing management for a year and a half over a series of demands, but management kept delaying its decisions. Workers feared they were planning layoffs.

The Al Behira Company suspended three workers, Islam Abdel Razek, Farid Ismail and Mohamed Gamal on 20 June 2014 for demanding an emergency grant from the Ministry of Manpower after the company stopped its activities. In 2014 there were several protests by Al Behira Company workers calling for the payment of five months’ salary arrears and protesting against corruption.

On 3 June, the National Co of Steel of Port Said, a member of the Al Masren Steel Group, suspended 16 workers. The company’s 500 workers had demanded payment of their 2013 bonus, due in March 2014, but not yet paid. The workers went on strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike for two hours to press for their demands, and in response management called in the police. The company then agreed to negotiate with workers’ representatives. However, management then decided to suspend 16 workers including members of the Executive Council of the independent union independent union A trade union that is not affiliated to a national union. Can also be a union that is not dominated by an employer.

See yellow union

, namely Mohamed Rashad Taha, president; Montaser Anwar, secretary general; Mahmoud Moustafa, treasurer; Mahmoud Gaber, Mohamed Ahmed and Moawad Ibraheem.

Three workers from the Cristal Asfoor Company were detained on 19 May and interrogated at the Subra police station for inciting for a strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike . Ahmed Gaber, Hassan Abdel Latif, and Al Sayed Zaki were arrested following a strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike at the company’s factories in Shubra Al Khema, and Bahteem. The strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike was called to demand implementation of the collective agreement and protest at the termination of thousands employees. The company had lost a lot of money through bad management and corruption.

The Egyptian Democratic Labour Congress (EDLC) accused the government of interfering in its internal affairs. The EDLC General Assembly of 11 April 2014 had voted to replace its outgoing president but the Ministry of Manpower refused to recognise the decision, or the election of Saeed Shabban as president and Hani Mohamed Afifi as secretary general of the EDLC. The EDLC believed the government wished to restore control over the union through its own choice of leadership.

In another attack on independent unions, the Minister of Tourism prohibited financial and administrative transactions with free independent unions on 18 May 2014, claiming that they were illegal entities.

Mohamed Omar, a union leader at the Iron and Steel Company, suffered serious injuries in an assassination attempt on 4 May 2014. At eight o’clock in the morning Mohammed Omar was on his way to the workshop where he worked when he was attacked by two masked men who struck him on the head with an iron bar and left on an unmarked motorcycle. Colleagues took him to hospital where he remained unconscious for several hours.

Mohamed Omar was in the company’s sights after he had led a strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike in December 2013. On 22 January he submitted a report to the General Prosecutor accusing Mohamed Saad Negeda, the company Chairman, of bad management and corruption, losing 92 per cent of its capital. He also called on his colleagues to form an independent union independent union A trade union that is not affiliated to a national union. Can also be a union that is not dominated by an employer.

See yellow union

.

Five workers were arbitrarily transferred to different production units by the Egyptian Coke Company on 27 April 2014 for their role in organising organising The process of forming or joining a trade union, or inducing other workers to form or join one. a strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike . The five concerned were Ayman Sobhi, Ahmed Kassem, Ashraf Mohamed Hassan, Essam Mohamed Hassan and Tharwat Abo Amr. The Prime Minister intervened on their behalf and the transferred workers were returned to their original positions. However they had five days salary deducted from their pay packet, and were denied the seven per cent pay rise.

Three workers at the Propylene & Polypropylene Co. in Port Said were arrested on 27 April 2014 for inciting a strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike . The three were named as Kamal Arafat, Mohammed Ahmed Ibrahim and Mohamed El-Sayed Radi. The arrests were made as they were on their way to the police station to submit a request to organise a strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike following management’s refusal to implement an agreement reached in January 2014. That agreement had been signed to end a three-day strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike following negotiations attended by the Military Councillor.

During that meeting, the company management refused to accept the presence of the independent union independent union A trade union that is not affiliated to a national union. Can also be a union that is not dominated by an employer.

See yellow union

that had been established by workers, who had submitted the necessary documentation to the Ministry of Manpower, until the promulgation of the union freedom law. The company agreed that the budget would be made available in order for workers’ representatives to calculate profit shares. It was also agreed to that it would disclose company regulations and penalty policies that the workers had known nothing about, and finalise the annual appraisals for the payment of annual bonus. However, the company did not respect its own agreement. Charges against the arrested workers were later dropped.

0n 14 April 2014 three workers at the Iron and Steel Co. Amr Abdul, Rashid Hilal and Hussein Kamal Mohammed continued their protest against an arbitrary transfer by going on hunger strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike . They had been transferred six months earlier for supporting colleagues who were demanding their rights. Amr Abdul and Rashid Hilal were transferred on 18 September 2013 for distributing a leaflet urging workers to start a strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike demanding their delayed profit bonuses, whereas Hussein Kamal Mohammed was transferred on 14 April 2013 for supporting a strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike calling for better protection against the gangs that had attacked the company and killed one worker.

On 10 April 2014, security forces arrested four Gas Company workers in Alexandria in an attempt to intimidate them into ending their strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike . Workers at the company had begun the strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike one month earlier in protest at the liquidation of the company owned by the Al Kharafy Group. Negotiations between the company management and workers’ representatives had broken down the previous day. Security forces went to the workers’ homes in order to arrest Mohammed Saleh, Mohammed Abdel-Rahman, Ahmed Adel and Al Saied Al Semman. The company filed complaints against the protesting workers accusing them of inciting a strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike and interrupting workflow. The prosecutor released all four that night.

In January 2014, security forces freed four trade union leaders abducted while on their way to a pro-constitution conference in the Red Sea city of Sharm El-Sheikh. The General Federation of Trade Unions (GFTU) announced that the General Union of Tourism leader, his deputy and secretary-general, and a labour ministry official had been taken hostage by unidentified armed assailants in Oyoun Moussa, a few miles from the Ahmed Hamdi tunnel that connects the Sinai Peninsula to the city of Suez. They were on their way to Sharm El-Sheikh to attend a federation conference on the newly amended constitution.

Workers at the Cargill-owned National Vegetable Oil Company in Alexandria established their union on 1 March 2012 in the wake of a dispute over the profit-sharing distribution to employees. Following the satisfactory resolution of the dispute, constructive industrial relations industrial relations The individual and collective relations and dealings between workers and employers at the workplace, as well as the institutional interaction between unions, employers and also the government.

See social dialogue were established in the plant. This ended in August 2013 when a new management team was brought in. First they announced that the agreements signed with the previous management were null and void and a new employee relations policy would be introduced. Then they began harassing workers, looking for minor infractions, issuing warnings and threatening workers with dismissal. To protest the arbitrary punishments and the deteriorating work environment, the workers held a sit-in on 15 December 2013. Management’s response was to shut the factory and put 84 workers (out of 122 in the plant) on extended leave. The workers continued the sit-in in the plant until December 23, when they were forcibly removed by thugs with attack dogs. The factory was re-opened on January 13, 2014 and replacement labour hired in. While management prevents them from returning to work, the workers maintain their picket in the factory parking lot. In defiance of the law, Cargill has begun issuing dismissal letters to workers.

On 2 October 2013, Nasr City Police attacked workers holding a peaceful sit-in in from of the Ministry of Manpower demanding the assistance of the Ministry concerning their dismissals. While the court had ruled in favour of the reinstatement of the workers, the company refused to implement the order. The workers came from the companies Faragalla, Petrojet, Petro Trade and Cabu.

450 workers began the strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike action on 14 February demanding the company to honor the promises it made in January to provide permanent job contracts and improved pay and bonuses.

In the early hours of 17 February, Central Security Forces stormed workers conducting a sit-in at the Portland Cement Factory in Alexandria, injuring dozens of workers. The workers were performing dawn prayers when the raid was launched. They were severely beaten by the security personnel and attacked by dogs leaving dozens injured and 4 in intensive care.

100 workers were arrested and 18 remained in detention for several days including 2 who were seriously injured during the attack. The workers were facing charges of hindering foreign investment and detention of hostages (management) at the factory.

The forces of the Third Field Army attacked the workers of “Suez Steel Company” who were demanding the reinstatement of their twelve sacked colleagues.

They were also protesting against the company’s board chairman who said that an additional 40 people will also be sacked.

The workers were surprised by the forces of the Third Field Army who besieged their sit-in with a number of army vehicles and soldiers; preventing two workers from entering the company. When they went out to help their colleagues to gain entry, the security forces attacked them and beat them with excessive violence, injuring two protesters and detaining another two workers in “Attaka” police station.

On 11 September 2013, the Railway Authority filed a complaint against workers for participating in a strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike . The court suspended the workers for six months and ordered salary deductions. The workers had called for equal pay within the company. Management agreed and promised that none of the workers who had participated in the strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike action would face sanctions.

On 21 August 2013, security forces searched the houses of four workers from Suez Cement Company after accusing them of encouraging workers to go on strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike three weeks earlier. One of the workers was arrested. As a result, workers demonstrated in front of the factory calling for the release of their colleague and against police persecution and harassment.

The chief detective of the Qena company entered the offices of the Independent Union independent union A trade union that is not affiliated to a national union. Can also be a union that is not dominated by an employer.

See yellow union

of the Railway Workers by force and threatened to dismiss members of the executive board if they took strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike action.

On 18 August 2013, security forces attacked workers employed at Sinitar Oil and arrested union leaders. The workers were accused of delaying work and preventing management from entering the company premises. Workers had started a sit-in demanding permanent jobs for temporary workers but denied obstructing the entrance of management to the company.

On 12 August 2013, armed forced responsible for protecting the industrial area at Itaqa and Sukhna attacked workers who had gone on strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike demanding the reinstatement of 12 workers who had been dismissed arbitrarily. Two union leaders were arrested and others were prevented from entering the company.

On 11 August 2013, tens of workers from Kabu Textiles Co. demonstrated inside the company’s premises at Al Hadra, Alexandria, against the board of directors’ decision to dismiss 11 trade unionists because they participated in strikes and demonstrations against the management. The workers filed a complaint at the police station against the board of directors and its arbitrary decision.

Wael El-Maadawy, the Minister of Civil Aviation ordered the dismissal of 15 workers at Cairo Airport Company that participated in an earlier strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike demanding better financial conditions. He accused them of instigation and disrupting work operations.

On 28 May 2013, the general secretary of the independent union independent union A trade union that is not affiliated to a national union. Can also be a union that is not dominated by an employer.

See yellow union

of Alexandria Spinning and Weaving Company was arrested after workers had announced a sit-in following a decision by management to deduct the percentage of social insurances from their salaries with retroactive effect starting from January 2013. Then the management filed a report at el Sadat City Police Station against Abdel Aleem el Bekeemy, President of the independent union independent union A trade union that is not affiliated to a national union. Can also be a union that is not dominated by an employer.

See yellow union

, and Nasef el Shahat, its General Secretary. They were accused of calling the workers to go on strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike and blocking the exit of products from the factory. The workers refused the accusation and emphasised that the factory is running in full capacity.

On 25 May 2013, the chairman of Alexandria Port Authority, Major General Adel Yaseen Hammad, decided to retaliate against 28 workers of the Electronic Department for going on strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike . The workers were suspended for three months and the issue was referred to the Public Prosecutor.

On 15 May 2013, management of Al Ragaa Co. for Clay Products dismissed 3 board members of the independent union independent union A trade union that is not affiliated to a national union. Can also be a union that is not dominated by an employer.

See yellow union

, namely, Ahmed Sobhy, Ragab Gad and Asaad el Sayed el Nady. The union had called for a 10 per cent salary rise, which the employer first agreed to but then refused to pay. Moreover, management limited their right to free time for trade union activities to one hour every day. Subsequently, the union representatives were dismissed without any warning.

On the 3^rd of May, more than 350 workers from a cement factory in Aswan, Upper Egypt announced a strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike after factory management refused to negotiate the demands put forth by workers. On the 5^th of May, the factory’s management decided to end the strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike by force and the workers were attacked by security personnel from the factory who used live ammunition to intimidate the striking workers.

The detainees were part of a group of workers at Ganoub El Wadi Petroleum Company who have been on strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike and camping out in front of the company since February, demanding fulltime contracts.

Strikers’ families claim they were taken from their homes in the early morning
Three of them were released on the 13^th of April and the rest were held at the Qena Security Directorate until after midnight. The detainees were accused of resisting the authorities.

Security forces removed the strikers’ tents near the petroleum company and forcefully opened the company headquarters on the 14^th after remaining closed for almost two months on account of the sit-in.

On 4 April 2013, four union leaders working for the Cairo Airport were transferred to remote areas after calling for the resignation of the Minister of Civil Aviation after he dismissed the chairman of Cairo Airport for referring a corruption file to the Public Prosecutor. More than 50 air supervision officers demonstrated in protest of the transfer of their colleagues.

On 18 March 2013, police arrested more than 15 workers employed at Alexandria Fertilizers’ Company. The workers held a sit-in inside the premises calling for permanent jobs and higher salaries, given that all workers were employed through a sub-contractor.

On 13 March 2013, management of Globe Co. in el Sadat City dismissed 11 members of the executive council of the independent union independent union A trade union that is not affiliated to a national union. Can also be a union that is not dominated by an employer.

See yellow union

simply because they had called for the implementation of a collective agreement, including clauses with respect to profit sharing, contract length, and paid lunch breaks.

On 3 March 2013, management of Ideal Standard Co. at 10^th of Ramadan City dismissed 29 workers including board members of the union committee. In response, workers called a sit-in asking for a risk allowance and leave days in accordance with the recommendations of the Ministry of Manpower. Moreover, workers announced they would strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike until their colleagues were reinstated. On the following day, the management decided to stop production completely, cut off gas and electricity and separate the mills from the factory for the morning shift. The company filed a complaint to the Labour Court calling for the dismissal all union members. Management also stopped to provide bus transportation to the workers.

On 28 January 2013, the Water and Sanitary Sewage Co. of Luxor arbitrarily transferred five engineers from the Projects Department to different departments. Their colleagues announced a sit-in in front of the office of the Projects Department protesting against the company chairman’s decision to transfer their colleagues. Workers believe that the decision was taken by management in retaliation of demands for better salaries.

The worker’s spokesperson in ABB Arab Contractors Electrical Industries was forced to resign when he tried to conduct negotiations between the company and workers regarding mass dismissals on 15 January 2013.

On 1 January 2013, the company Care Service and Maintenance Co. in Sharm el Sheikh transferred five workers to remote areas. On 2 January 2013, tens of workers announced a sit-in calling for the return of their colleagues and accused the company of retaliating against workers for demanding better salaries and paid annual leave. The sit-in came to an end when the company management promised them to return their colleagues and to abstain from dismissing or transferring workers arbitrarily.

Ataef Mohamed, President of the Independent Regional Federation of the Independent Unions in South Egypt and responsible for CTUWS Office in Naji’ Hamady, was transferred to a different workplace, 60 kilometers away from his house without any justification on 11 November 2012.

Security forces arrested 14 taxi drivers who demonstrated in front of the General Administration of Traffic at Salah Salim Street calling for lower taxes and fines imposed on taxi drivers on 3 October 2012. Ten of them were released on the same day and the other four were released on bail the next day.

On 24 September 2012, seven nurses employed at Zagazig University Hospital were arrested for having called a strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike after wage negotiations with the director of the hospital failed. Four nurses were released and the other three remained in jail for 4 days under investigation: Ashraf Abdel Monem, Mohamed el Sayed and Ayman Almaz.

On 16 September 2012, Rashad Shabaan and Aly Hassan Kenawy were dismissed after participating in a sit-in when Al-Ameriya Spinning and Weaving Company did not pay their wages. The court asked the company to reinstate them and to pay their wages.

Nile Spinning and Weaving Company refused to pay wage increases that had been agreed in a collective agreement in July 2012. 34 of the workers who went on strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike against this violation were dismissed.

In May, the Minister of Manpower, Ahmed al-Borei, announced that the official Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF) would continue to represent Egypt in international conferences, despite the State Council’s ruling that the ETUF’s board of directors was to be dissolved.

When the 25 January revolution began, the immediate response of the official Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF) was to set up committees to stop any group of workers wanting to go on strike strike The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.

See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike and join the demonstrators, according to Kamal Abou Aita, president of the independent Real Estate Tax Authority Union RETA . The money the ETUF had accumulated through compulsory union dues and government funding was used to pay the thugs that descended on the streets to terrorise the population. The ETUF representative for the same sector as RETA stated in front of the cameras that they were going to punish the protestors and break the revolution, hurling insults at RETA members, before being stopped by the revolutionary demonstrators.

Shortly after the ousting of President Mubarak and his government, the new Minister of Manpower, Ismail Fahmy, stated in February that “the issue of trade union rights is kept on hold until such a time that the labour code is revised… the ministry will continue to work closely with the ETUF (Egyptian Trade Union Federation) and its President Hussein Megawer”. Mr. Fahmy is a former treasurer of ETUF, the national centre that was controlled by the Mubarak regime.

The private employers in Egypt’s Special Economic Zones continue to show very little respect for labour rights. Most workers in the Tenth of Ramadan City zone are forced to sign letters of resignation before beginning employment so that they can be fired at the employers’ convenience. Working conditions are very bad, with long hours, low pay and poor safety standards, but it is difficult for labour activists to do anything about it, given the restrictions on collective bargaining collective bargaining The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.

See collective bargaining agreement
and the ban on strikes.