EGYPT— The Egyptian Administrative Court today will hear a case filed by the President of the Workers in Finance, Taxes and Customs Union against the independent unions in the country.
The lawsuit number 24661, called for the annulment of the independent federations and unions, in addition to the annulment of decisions allowing them to open bank accounts and collect membership fees.
The committee tasked in defending unions freedoms met on Friday to discuss the “government’s attacks” and restrictions and called on all workers, unions’ members, human rights organizations and political parties to gather today [Sunday] at the court during the hearing.
The call to ban the independent unions initially came more than a year ago when an affiliate of the state-controlled Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF) filed a lawsuit against a rival federation for independent unions.
Since 2011, when the Egyptian Federation of Independent Trade Unions was established and challenged the state’s monopoly, there has been a proliferation of organizations joining four trade and labor unions that existed in relative autonomy before the January uprisings.
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