Blatant Assault on Freedoms of Association

The Ministry of Labour launched an illegal attack on the Union of Workers in Suez Canal Clubs (which is a member in the Solidarity of Trade Unions Federation) by issuing a decision from the Minister of Labour and officials at the Suez Canal Clubs in February 2024 to stop transferring of union membership dues although they were deducted from workers.

This threatens to make the Union unable to meet its financial obligations and obstructs its work. It comes as an attempt to eliminate the Union, stop its activities, violate the rights of its General Assembly and deprive the workers of the Suez Canal Clubs from their right to organize and choose their own representatives. All this violates the Constitution and the Law on Trade Union Organizations no. 213 for 2017, as well as international instruments ratified by Egypt especially ILO convention no. 98 for 1949 on the Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining and ILO Convention no. 87 for 1948 on Freedom of Association and the Right to Organize.

These latest developments come in the context of several violations to which the Union was subjected to since its establishment. This Union was founded in February 2012 pursuant to the Freedom of Association Declaration issued by the Minister of Labour on the 12^th of March 2011. The board of the Union was subject to several restrictions in order to prevent it from performing its role in representing workers and defending their legitimate rights.

After the Trade Unions Law no. 213 for 2017 was enacted, the Union’s legal status was regularized in March 2018. In the year 2022, the Ministry of Labour issued a ministerial decision calling for elections of trade unions to be held. Some members of the Union of Workers in Suez Canal Authority were subjected to unjustifiable and incomprehensible pressures by security forces leading them to refrain from nominating themselves to elections. So, no election for the Union board was held. This actually took place in many other trade unions.

In order to fix this flawed situation, and following demands of independent trade unions, the Central Adminstration in the Ministry of Labour issued Bulletin no. 1061 for 2022 regarding Rules for Approving the Formation of the Steering Committees of Trade Unions. Consequently, the Union of Workers in Suez Canal Clubs held its General Assembly meeting which renewed confidence in incumbent board members. So, the Board contacted the Officials of the Trade Union Liaison Department in the Ministry of Labour who affirmed that the General Assembly meeting was valid and all its procedures were correct; and that representatives of the General Assembly have to submit the documents to the Labour Directorate of Ismailia and receive a certificate confirming this. However, members of the Board were surprised when officials of the Directorate again refused to receive the documents. So, Board members had to submit a memorandum to the Ministry of Labour on the 24^th of September 2023 but to no avail.

On the 5th of March 2024, the Labour Directorate submitted a report to the administration of the Suez Canal Clubs stating that the formation of the administrative board of the Union of Workers of Suez Canal Clubs was not approved. This took place concurrently with the Directorate of Labour sending a warning to the President of the Union claiming that this Union has no formal legal status. In response, the Union submitted a memorandum to the Minister of Labour on the 6th of March 2024 but it didn’t receive any response.

It is worth noting that such an attack on the Union came after the role it played in the establishment of the Solidarity of Trade Unions Federation in which Karam Abdelhalim (president of the Union) is a vice president.

As CTUWS expresses its full solidarity with the Union of Workers in Suez Canal Clubs, it affirms that the measures taken against it violates ILO Convention no. 87 on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize, which stipulates that:

- Workers' and employers' organizations shall have the right to draw up their constitutions and rules, to elect their representatives in full freedom, to organize their administration and activities and to formulate their programmes.

- The public authorities shall refrain from any interference which would restrict this right or impede the lawful exercise thereof.

- Workers' and employers' organizations shall not be liable to be dissolved or suspended by administrative authority.

CTUWS holds the Ministry of Labour fully responsible for the assaults taking place against the Union of Workers in Suez Canal Clubs, especially that there is a general state of harassment against independent trade unions.