Egypt is back on the International Labour Organisation's (ILO) blacklist, with the possibility that it will stay there for the next three years, for failing to issue a new law allowing workers the right to establish independent unions or syndicates. The country was removed from the ILO blacklist in the summer of 2011 after officials announced that they would open up the country's laws on freedom of association. Egypt's commitments to the ILO at the time included allowing workers and employers to establish and join organisations of their own choosing without having to seek previous authorisation. Such workers' and employers' organisations would also be freely organised and could not be dissolved or suspended by administrative order. Workers and employers were also to have the right to establish and to join federations and confederations, which might in turn be affiliated to international organisations of workers and employers. None of these commitments has been translated into the draft labour law that is currently in the making, however, with the law in fact containing many restrictive provisions that do not allow unions and syndicates to work freely. The decision to blacklist Egypt followed observations made by an ILO committee of experts, an independent body composed of legal experts charged with examining the application of conventions and recommendations by ILO member states. The committee said that Egypt was not on track with the application of the conventions regarding freedom of association. The ILO was keen to ensure that this fundamental right was respected, the committee noted, it being at the core of the ILO's values and at the heart of conventions that Egypt had previously ratified. “Egypt was among the pioneer countries that gave workers the right to form associations, permitted in a 1923 law to this effect. However, Egypt has not been keen to respond to the developments that have taken place over recent years,” commented Adel Al-Ezabi, head of the labour committee of the Federation of Egyptian Industries. Egypt had ignored ILO regulations or had frustrated their application, with the result that it had been blacklisted several times before, he said. Hopes for change had come after the 25 January Revolution when the government introduced a draft law that regulated the formation of workers associations in accordance with Egypt's commitments to the ILO. This law was approved by the cabinet in 2011, but it did not get final ratification by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), in charge of the country at the time. Al-Ezabi said that when the draft law had been presented by Ahmed Al-Boraai, then minister of labour and manpower, Egypt had been removed from the ILO blacklist, with the law being considered a valuable step towards guaranteeing the right of workers to form their own associations. However, this week Egypt is back on the ILO blacklist. After the present Muslim Brotherhood-dominated government came to power, amendments were introduced into the draft law that restricted the right of workers to form associations. Al-Ezabi blamed the government for not showing the Federation of Egyptian Industries and other non-governmental organisations a copy of the draft law after it had been amended. The proposed new law includes 26 articles, of which the first 18 regulate protests and the final eight introduce restrictions on the right to strike. The draft law, currently being discussed in the Shura Council's human rights committee, has been criticised by both labour and human rights groups. The Shura Council is currently the country's sole legislative chamber in the absence of the People's Assembly. Human rights NGOs have criticised the draft law for what they claim are the government's disregarding of the recommendations of Egyptian and international human rights organisations. It also violates Article 51 of the country's new constitution, they say. Al-Ezabi said that the government's choosing to ignore the NGOs' opinions had led them to submit complaints to the ILO expressing their reservations about the draft law. The law has stirred international concerns, notably because Ban Ki-Moon, the UN secretary-general, cited the need for Egypt to ensure that its laws conformed to international human rights standards on 5 June and responded to the aspirations of its people. Egypt's being placed on the ILO blacklist will almost certainly increase workers' strikes and sit-ins because they are unsatisfied with the new draft. Such strikes could reduce production and negatively affect economic performance, Al-Ezabi said. Strike are already at an all-time high in Egypt, with a report published in April 2013 by the Egyptian Centre for Economic and Social Rights showing that around 2,000 labour strikes and protests had taken place, four times the number of strikes in 2010. According to Al-Ezabi, there is a lack of proper relations between workers and employers in Egypt, and he suggested that new legislation should be introduced in accordance with Egypt's international obligations to solve this problem. “This should include an item that permits Egypt a five-year grace period to apply the new legislation in cooperation with the ILO, the government, business organisations and the labour unions,” he added.
