Hisham Mubarak Law Center Calls for New Labor Union Law

Hisham Mubarak Law Center Called for amending the legislation on Labor Unions no. 35 of 1976. Workers movement has repeatedly called for amending the law.

The center indicated that the government has introduced two changes into this law through 1981 and 1995 amendments to violate the unions’ independence, muzzle the committees’ movement that depends on worker grass roots, and move their presumed powers to the general federation of the workers’ unions to easily influence decisions.

The center added that the country needs a new law other than those controlled by the government that violates freedoms or the official syndicalistic figures who deprived the workers unions of their independent nature and pursue the NDP policies that suppress the poor and workers.

The center added that the legislative flaws helped the government break the unions’ independence and blacklisting Egypt regarding the syndicalistic freedoms during International Labor Organization conference this year. It stressed the importance of developing the legislative structure of the union freedoms adding that economic, political, and social changes within the Egyptian society require freer unions; especially the rights of expression, opinion, assembly, strike, protests, and demonstrations.

The center condemned the state’s control over workers’ unions as if they are a state institution.

The Egyptian economic system began moving towards a more liberal system and real employers, so that syndicates should change previous performance to be purposeful unions providing humane labor provisions for humane and sufficient salaries through all mechanisms provided by the international labor standards and unions freedom, including negotiation with employers, demos, strikes and others to protect workers’ interests, the center added.

It also added that the basic business- regulating principle of “triplicity” and the right of negotiation cannot be obtained without strong and independent unions capable of leading the people for the public interest and observing the economic nature of the employers and the social one of the workers.

The center called on all independent workers leading figures and interested NGOs to draft a new bill for workers unions to agree on one project; namely workers’ secretariat at the socialist coalition, coordinating committee of workers and unions freedoms and rights, workers and unions services house, and workers for change provided that the first meeting should be held at Hisham Mubarak Law Center next Monday at 6 pm.