December 11, 2012
On the
heels of the now hotly contested decree
granting the Egyptian president unlimited authority, President Mohammed Morsi also
amended the nation’s 1976 trade union law. Egypt’s independent labor movement opposes
the amendment, saying it signals potential suppression of the right to freely
form unions while providing Morsi’s administration with the power to bypass
democratic union elections by appointing new board members of the Egyptian
Trade Union Federation (ETUF), which has always been closely aligned with the
state. The government’s acts have raised concerns for Egypt’s democratic
transition, causing thousands of citizens to return to the streets in mass
demonstrations. This amendment
leaves intact “ETUF’s
legal monopoly on trade union organization.”
“Morsi is
clearly preparing a systematic crackdown against Egypt’s union movement,
against the right to strike, against the right to organize and against union
plurality,” says Fatma
Ramadan, an executive board member of the Egyptian Federation of Independent
Trade Unions (EFITU). The EFITU and the Egyptian Democratic Labor Congress
(EDLC) have
released statements regarding the amendment.
Law 97 of
2012 amends Egypt’s 1976 trade union law by:
-
Imposing
an age limit on union membership, restricting it to people age 60 and younger.
-
Giving
the government the authority to fill all seats left vacant for any reason on
the executive boards of the ETUF and its affiliated unions.
The age
limit could result in the removal of many leaders from their positions, paving
the way for the government to appoint
their replacements. The amendment to the trade union law requires that “the
next nominee in number of votes will fill his place,” however, candidates for
many seats in ETUF’s 2006 elections went uncontested, leaving no runner-up. (An
Egyptian court also determined the elections to be fraudulent.)
This will then leave a number of vacant seats available
for appointment by the government, as opposed to filling the newly empty
leadership positions through transparent and free elections.
In news
reports, Minister of Manpower Khaled El-Azhari has
said the changes are necessary to remove those affiliated to the former
regime from the ETUF leadership structure and revitalize the organization with
new people. However, independent unions
say the result is a continued practice by the Egyptian government of
interference in union affairs, which is a clear violation of international
standards. According to the EDLC in its statement, “instead of dismantling the
institutions that were the cornerstones of the old regime’s system of tyranny,
oppression and corruption, they are maintaining them. They are only changing
their leaderships and key decision makers.”
A draft
trade union law allowing for union pluralism and the right to organize
independent unions was put before the Egyptian Parliament in August 2011, but was
never considered for a vote. The ILO
agreed to postpone
Egypt’s case in 2011 in order to give the government time to pass a new trade
union law. This new amendment does not demonstrate any progress toward
compliance with ILO conventions 87
and 98.
The
freedom to form democratic trade unions also is under siege in Egypt’s draft
constitution, which does not provide a guarantee for freedom of association for
workers. Article 52 of the draft constitution,
which will be voted on in a referendum on December 15, states that “The
freedom to form syndicates, unions and cooperatives is a right guaranteed by
law,” apparently deferring to existing legislation. In contrast, the right to
form political parties and associations are guaranteed in the constitution and
not subject to other legislation. Article 51 states, “Citizens have the right
to establish associations and civil institutions, subject to notification only.
Such institutions shall operate freely and be deemed legal persons.” Article 53
mandates that “one
trade union is allowed per profession.” This limitation could result in the denial
of freedom of association and sends a signal that ETUF will remain the sole
trade union federation in Egypt, leaving independent unions in political limbo
and unable to organize members in sectors where ETUF unions exist. Indeed, new independent unions fear the
government could use the amendment to dissolve their organizations.
Independent
trade unions in nascent democracies often provide one of the few balances to
power. They can speak for the working people they represent—people who, alone,
may be afraid to challenge the decisions that affect their lives. This amendment
neither furthers the cause of a more open and pluralistic society nor does it
consider the choice of workers to form new unions. And it may very well succeed
in achieving what local labor leaders fear: that the new Egypt, if it suppresses
workers’ voices and denies their rights, will look a lot like the old Egypt.
Erin Radford is a program officer
for the Middle East and North Africa at the Solidarity Center in Washington, DC