Between arbitrary dismissal and inflation.. greetings to the Egyptian workers in their battle to defend their legitimate rights
The Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights honors the workers of Egypt, both men and women, and their unions, during their celebrations ob Wednesday, May 1, 2024, appreciating their struggles to attain their rights. They face several challenges regarding working conditions in extremely difficult economic circumstances, hindering their path towards fair wages, decent living, and fair working conditions.
Moreover, the Egyptian Center extends its respect and appreciation to the workers of Egypt as they find themselves in union and legal battles to obtain their legitimate rights and stop arbitrary practices against them in various workplaces.
This year’s celebration of Labor Day in Egypt comes amid significant challenges faced by the working class, amidst an escalating economic crisis and consecutive depreciations in the value of the local currency. These factors have led to catastrophic inflationary waves multiplying prices, eroding the real value of wages, and threatening the livelihoods of low-income families, thereby threatening the overall stability of society.
While workers continue to struggle for their minimum wage rights, culminating in a decision by the Ministry of Labor regarding mechanisms to implement the National Wages Council’s decision to increase the minimum wage for private sector workers to 6000 Egyptian pounds instead of 3500 pounds, in line with the public sector and public business sector, employers continue to circumvent these decisions by requesting exceptions citing “economic conditions that make implementation impossible.”
In addition to wage crises, retirees face similar crises as their pensions do not keep up with the escalating inflation rates. The government’s abandonment of its responsibilities regarding social support leaves irregular workers, the largest segment of Egypt’s workforce, without any recognizable rights, in light of not being officially recognized, exposing their livelihoods and their families to danger at any moment.
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Every attempt by workers to demand their legitimate rights to improve their professional conditions, the response becomes more severe and violent, with a clearer and more violent message of from employers. Their initial responses to these demands include threats of relocation, salary deductions, and ultimately arbitrary dismissal, whi has happened in many establishments, including, for example, the workers of “Ghazl El-Mahalla,” “Universal,” and the female workers of the Hennawi Tobacco Factory. Meanwhile, the managements of these establishments continue to evade court orders to reinstate them.
The statistics related to the decline in the volume of labor protests in 2023 compared to previous years, despite the increasing justifications for their outbreak, may seem somewhat misleading when separated from its context, especially when considering the real reasons behind this decline, including the deterioration of economic conditions and the increasing burdens on families. Additionally, there is a rise in persecution through dismissal, termination, and threats of imprisonment. Obtaining legal permission for a strike in Egypt is akin to an impossible task, and only the actual representatives of workers in elections can push towards it.
The battle for minimum wages, for which workers have fought for years, has claimed many victims in the defense of their legitimate rights, including leaders and union activists who have faced persecution, arbitrary dismissal, and even imprisonment. Examples include the workers of the Ghazl El-Mahalla company, Wael Mohamed Abu Zouid, and Mohamed Mahmoud Tolba, who are still in pretrial detention in Case No. 717 of 2024, charged with “joining a terrorist group and spreading false news” due to their participation in a strike on February 22 last year to demand the implementation of the minimum wage on public business sector companies, a decision that was later activated by the government, however the workers are still in detention due to demands for its implementation.
With the implementation of the flexible exchange rate policy, the national currency has devaluated by about 50%, accompanied by a wave of price hikes in the country. This necessitates several legislative interventions, in addition to other measures, to strengthen social safety nets to protect vulnerable groups or those facing similar fates, including laid-off workers.
As a result, the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights has issued a policy paper entitled “Labor Compensation in the Face of Inflation Crisis,” proposing legislative solutions to the problematic issues of labor compensation cases in the face of inflation crisis and the decline in the value of the local currency.
Under the influence of the flexible exchange rate policy, the currency is subject to losing parts of its value, affecting the purchasing power of this amount and its real value. For example, if the compensation awarded to a worker under an exchange rate where the dollar equals 15 EGP, the implementation of this judgment with the same amount after the completion of the litigation stages and the necessary procedures now means losing 50% of its value or purchasing power. Therefore, this situation constitutes a deprivation of the worker’s rights to compensation and turns the compensation issue into a por forma, given that the amounts awarded in labor cases are generally lower due to the low wage structures in wide sectors of the private sector.
Moreover, the recent trade union elections for the “2022-2024” term played a clear role in settling workers’ rights and suppressing their voices from the source. A large number of candidates were deprived of their right to run in the elections through threats, intimidation, and exclusion, according to the Union and Labor Services House, leaving the workers of Egypt without real representatives capable of negotiating on their behalf.
For example, The Workers’ Union of Suez Canal Authority Clubs is subjected to repeated targeting and abuse, finding itself forced to confront the suspension of its activities by the Ministry of Labor, hindering its ability to fulfill its financial obligations towards its members, The club’s management justifies its decision not to send the deducted subscriptions from the salaries to the union, claiming that it is not representative of the workers and lacks an elected board, despite holding a legitimate general assembly and forming an administrative council, in accordance with the law.
The Egyptian Center believes that this decision could have serious consequences, aiming to disable the union’s work in a manner that violates the law and the constitution, depriving its members of their rights to collective bargaining, representation, collecting subscriptions, and other essential roles. It emphasizes that these attacks constitute a blatant violation of workers’ rights and their legitimate representation through their unions.
