The Mamluks’ Fight Inside the Egyptian Trade Union Federation.. CTUWS Calls for Appointing Receiver to Manage ETUF’s Funds

Press Releases
Wednesday, January 27, 2016 - 17:47
 
 
Center for Trade Union and Workers Services “CTUWS”: 21st January 2014:
In continuity of the trade union futilities inside the Egyptian Trade Union Federation “ETUF”, everybody was surprised by a new coup led by Mr. Gebaaly el Maraghy member of the temporary Administrative Committee against Mr. Abdel Fattah Ibrahim chairman of the Committee. This was a reply to the coup made by Mr. Abdel Fattah Ibrahim by which he removed Mr. Gebaaly el Maraghy from the chairmanship of the Committee. This shows that we in Egypt have reached an unprecedented stage of trade union futility and confirms what we had said earlier that the Mamluks’ fight inside ETUF is a fight for authority and for showing loyalty to an new ruler or any new regime. Such a fight does not have the slightest relation with the interests of the workers which are deteriorating day after day in spite of the fact that workers were the spark which started the revolution against the corruption and tyranny of Mubarak’s regime and the subsequent Brotherhood’s regime.
It is the opinion of CTUWS that what happens in the corridors of ETUF is natural because those are the same trade unionists who forced Egyptian workers to take early pension. They are the same trade unionists who took commissions for privatizing public sector companies and gained accumulated millions of pounds. An evidence of this is that the Public Funds Prosecution has released a few days ago Mr. Salah Haykal president of the General Trade Union of Engineering Industries and former president of the Trade Union Committee of Iron and Steel Company in Helwan after paying a bail of 100 000 Egyptian pounds. He is accused of illegal accumulation of wealth which amounted to 100 million Egyptian pounds!!
 In addition, Mr. Abdel Fattah Ibrahim the leader of the first coup was a board member of the General Trade Union of Textile Industries during Mubarak’s regime and that the workers of Mehalla and other companies of the textile sector confronted him and asked to withdraw confidence from him and from his trade union committees. Further, Mr. Gebaaly el Maraghy was the president of the General Trade Union of Land Transport during the days of President Mubarak. The reports of the Central Accounting Agency are witnesses of the corruption inside this Union. He himself was one of the top figures of the “Camel Battle” in which symbols from ETUF participated against the revolutionists in Tahrir Square. So the conflict is essentially to continue stealing ETUF’s funds and show loyalty to any new regime. The trade unionists who applauded Mubarak’s regime applauded the Military Council then the Muslim Brotherhood in order to secure their seats and avoid opening their dirty files kept with the supervisory authorities. 
CTUWS wonders about the participation of the Ministry of Manpower which is supposed to abstain from intervening in trade union affairs. The Ministry participates openly in trade union affairs and announces its acceptance of any coup made by the Mamluks of ETUF. Moreover, the Ministry repeats in press leases the same reasons provided by the leaders of the last coup. They say that members of the previous Committee were excluded due to their external stances with the 50-member (constitution drafting) committee and because they “ invested the crisis of the  abducted trade union leaders to gain ‘false’ popularity, assumed falsely that they established an operation room to mobilize the workers to vote in favour of the new constitution and wasted money individually and collectively on the media people and photographers who accompanied the former president of ETUF so that he may gain special popularity”.   This shows that the dispute is not only with the Mamluks of ETUF but also with the Ministry of Manpower as a party to exhibit loyalty to the new ruler!!
In addition to the aforementioned, the Ministry of Manpower approved the formation of the new administrative committee while it knew that there were two retired vice presidents namely Mr. El Saeed Atiya el Nakeeb and Mr. Tawfik Fawzy Abdel Salaam. This contravenes the Trade Unions Law No. 35/1976 and its amendment by the Presidential Decree No. 97 for the year 2012 (which excluded all the members who reached the retirement age).This applies particularly on Mr. Tawfik Fawzy Abdel Salaam who represents the General Trade Union of Chemical Industries in ETUF. He was excluded from presiding over the General Trade Union of Chemical Industries on 15th January 2014 (one week ago), then the board of the General Trade Union was reformed and the credentials were deposited at ETUF and the Ministry of Manpower.
While the CTUWS calls Egyptian workers to move quickly to stop this abuse to their monies which are deducted by force from the workers’ salaries, it encourages trade union leaders who are keen to submit a report to the public prosecutor about corruption in ETUF and its general trade unions.

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