ILO condemns the ongoing repressing of the Egyptian Independent Trade Unions and gives Egypt notice until the issuance of trade union organizations law

Egypt – The Final report of the105th ILO Conference, which was held recently in Geneva, said that ILO will give the Egyptian government a notice until the issuance of trade union organizations law and shall not escalate until after the deadline.

This came in response to the complaint filed by the Egyptian independent trade unions against the Egyptian Trade Unions Federation.

According to the final report the Committee on the Application of Standards which received the complaints, announced its concern about the independence and legitimacy of the Egyptian Trade Union Federation and the non-completion of the new Trade Unions Law.  The Egyptian government had announced that the new law will be adopted in 2015 but instead they issued regulations that would affect the activities of independent trade unions.

The Committee on the Application of Standards condemned the distinction between trade unions and considered it a violation of freedom of association and a threat to the existence of trade unions. The report noted that this is the third time since 2012 in which the committee receive an objection about the representation of Egyptian Workers through the General Union and about the legitimacy of its Board of Directors.

The Committee on Freedom of Association has dealt earlier with this matter and stated in its report that they were waiting a confirmation on the adoption of the Trade Unions Law as a priority, including giving legal protection to several independent emerging trade unions and ensure respect for their freedom to elect their representatives and to organize its structures and activities in collective negotiations.

 The report pointed out that the conference condemned the absence of clear standards that allow for the government to measure the importance of each of them, and determine how to carry out their duty by consulting with the Supreme representative organization for workers in accordance with articles 3.5 of ILO Constitution.

The report pointed out that the conference can not help but reach a conclusion that naming Egyptian workers to the conference did not happen according to the Constitution of ILO. The Conference will not take any actions to escalate this year in hope that this issue ends by the approval of the new trade union law before the end of next years session.