Increasing number of strikes, protests in Egypt
Egyptian labor policies must change, says new report by Solidarity Center
Washington, DC – on 17th February 2010: Today in Egypt, thousands of workers are taking to the streets in strikes and sit-ins around wages, working conditions, demanding their rights for freedom of association, right to organize and to bargain collectively sending a strong message to Egypt's President Mubarak and his regime. This unrest could set the political stage for real representation for whoever will rule Egypt after Hosni Mubarak. [VIEW FULL REPORT]
Photography: Mohamed Hosam El Dein- From Al Masry Al Youm Newspaper
Today in Washington, the Solidarity Center issues a new report, The Struggle for Worker Rights in Egypt, which examines Egypt’s current labor laws, how they align with international conventions, and the Egyptian government’s record of enforcing of those laws. The Solidarity Center report shows that the Egyptian government systematically violates the International Labor Organization's core labor standards and undermines worker rights, resulting in a forecast of poor economic success and long-term social instability. As a key strategic, economic, and political partner to the U.S. in the Arab world, the realities on the ground in Egypt help determine U.S. foreign policy toward the Middle East.
The Solidarity Center will present its report this afternoon at an event at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, offering free bound copies of the report. Presenters will include Professor Joel Beinin, Stanford University, who was the principal author of the report; Sarah Leah Whitson, Director for the Middle East and North Africa division at Human Rights Watch, and Kamal Abbas, the General Coordinator of the Center for Trade Union and Workers Services in Egypt, who traveled to DC for the event. Michele Dunne, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and editor of the monthly online journal, the Arab Reform Bulletin will moderate the panel discussion.
"If the global economic crisis has taught us one thing, it's that we are all connected," said Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, in the foreword to the report. "That's why it's more important than ever before to stand behind workers in Egypt who are trying to reinvigorate the union movement in their country."
The report outlines recommendations for the Egyptian and US governments, Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF), labor-oriented NGOs and independent journalists, and the Egyptian labor movement. Recommendations for the US government include the cessation of high levels of aid to Egypt until labor standards are created, the introduction of labor practice requirements for the manufacture of goods imported from Egypt, and the inclusion of labor standards in the draft of any free trade agreement.
"This report comes at a crucial time for Egypt because workers’ protests, strikes, sit-ins and various types of job actions have reached a crescendo, becoming daily, weekly, and monthly events threatening the stability of Egypt’s economy and social structure, and without doubt having an effect on the political regime," said Nancy Mills, Executive Director of the Solidarity Center. "Thousands of Egyptian workers are taking to the streets to demand the respect for their fundamental human and worker rights, the end of worker rights abuses and the basic 'bread and butter' demands. They ask for nothing more or less."
Workers in Egypt are holding an unprecedented number of strikes over a wide range of worker rights abuses." The upsurge of workers’ protest which began in 2004 and continued into 2010 has been the most powerful movement for democracy in Egypt in more than half a century. It deserves far more support and recognition from the international community than it has received," says the report.
"Such support and recognition would demonstrate a commitment to the democratic transformation of Egypt by its own people and make a significant contribution to that process. If the international community consistently insists on the need for the government of Egypt to respect democracy, human rights, and worker rights, it is possible that the Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF), or some elements of it, may be empowered to assert their autonomy from the government and the NDP and join Egyptian workers’ struggle for a decent life and social and economic justice," concludes the report.
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www.solidaritycenter.org
The Solidarity Center's mission is to help build a global labor movement by strengthening the economic and political power of workers around the world through effective, independent, and democratic unions.
VIEW THE FULL REPORT:
http://www.solidaritycenter.org/files/pubs_egypt_wr.pdf