Why have worker protests persisted while the mass rallies that fueled Egypt’s 18-day uprising have largely come to an end? After Mubarak’s resignation on 11 February and the transfer of power to the military, most political forces left Tahrir Square expect for a small minority of activists. Many seemed satisfied with the outcome. Some political forces even seemed to have reached some agreements with the new regime. Perhaps workers intensified their protests, rather than stopping, because they have grown accustomed to politicians abandoning their labor demands after promising to partially meet them.
Workers on the streets have made demands to raise wages, bring corrupt company heads to justice, secure fixed positions for temporary workers, and end arbitrary pay deductions. New labor sectors, such as the police force, are now calling for wage hikes, fixed working hours and holidays and new rules for promotions. Bank employees have also participated in the recent protests, forcing Egypt’s central bank to close domestic and international banks for four consecutive days. Public transportation employees have been on a four-day strike in Cairo, leading the governorate to call on them to return to work.
From 12-14 February, between 40-60 labor protests took place every day in industrial and service sectors around the country. The protests spread to various locations around Egypt, forcing the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to issue a communiqué on 14 February calling for an end to all protests so that the economy would not be disrupted and the government could do its job. While the reasons for issuing this statement may be understandable, it’s unclear why it had a threatening tone, unlike all previous military communiqués. Moreover, why did the statement specifically call on workers to return to their jobs, without any guarantees that the army would respect workers’ rights and ensure the provision of social justice?
The communiqué is unlikely to stop the labor protests. At the same time, it’s probably untenable for the military to address all the workers’ demands at once. What the army can do, however, is commit to a series of steps that will insure justice for the workers and give them some assurances that their demands will be met in the near future. These steps should include:
1. The dissolution of the board of directors of the state-run Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF) and the boards of all general unions falling under the ETUF, as well as those of all union committees. These boards were fraudulently elected and were left unchanged even after Egypt’s administrative and supreme courts raised concerns about their corrupt election procedures. The ETUF has served as a cover Mubarak’s National Democratic Party (NDP) and all of its policies. The ETUF did not oppose the NDP’s privatization policies or the state’s attempt to control social insurance funds in the past years. Instead, the ETUF board served as the NDP’s general secretariat.
2. A state decision mandating a minimum wage that is in line with current prices, in accordance with Egypt’s administrative court ruling last year. Workers are calling for a minimum wage of 1200LE per month while businessmen and government representatives at the National Council for Wages have set it at 400LE per month for the private sector only. To reach a suitable outcome, a minimum monthly wage of 600LE (which the current finance minister and council member, Samir Radwan, has stated is appropriate) should be immediately implemented across all sectors (public, private, and privatized). This wage would then be subject to an increase on a yearly basis in accordance with inflation.
3. Immediate steps by the government to ensure that the Finance Ministry’s decision to offer fixed positions to all temporary employees is implemented immediately.
4. The cancellation of new regulations in government and educational hospitals, issued under the ex-ministers of health and local development, which treat the right to medical care as a commodity afforded only to those who can pay for it.
5. A decree to disband all hiring agencies, which have returned the practice of slavery to Egypt. Workers who sign contracts with these agencies are vulnerable to being dismissed by their employers–usually big companies–at any time. Under such contracts, the relationship between workers and big companies becomes devoid of any social and health guarantees. The use of hiring agencies constitutes an ethical crime against Egypt’s workers. Such agencies must not be allowed to operate and all work-related agreements, especially with regards to pay and social and health insurance, must be negotiated between workers and companies directly.
6. An amendment to the existing labor law that gives workers who obtain court rulings overturning their dismissal a choice: returning to work with compensation for time missed during the dismissal period or not returning to work and receiving full compensation for being arbitrarily fired. Egyptian workers have long suffered from businessmen being in control of law making. This has jeopardized job security and undermined the social nature of work relations. Under the current laws, business owners have the right to arbitrarily dismiss employees. If workers attempt to reverse the dismissal in court, business owners can refuse to abide by the ruling if they offer as little as two-months pay for every year of service, or whatever sum the court deems necessary. This is unacceptable.
7. The establishment of an unemployment fund to help those without a job, as well as a clear set of rules, procedures and authorities that will regulate the distribution of the funds.
Khaled Ali is the director of the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights. He is a lawyer who has defended worker rights for many years.
