The government dissolved the state-run Trade Union Federation, opening the door to more freedom for the labour movement, reports Mohamed Abdel-Baky After more than five decades of government domination, the cabinet decided late last week to implement previously-issued court rulings and dissolve the Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF), paving the way for the first free labour activism movement in Egypt's history. On Thursday the office of Prime Minister Essam Sharaf issued an executive order dismantling the current ETUF board of directors upon a request submitted by Minister of Manpower Ahmed El-Borai earlier this year. El-Borai's request was backed by several court rulings issued by the Administrative Court which ruled that the 2006 elections of the federation's board were fraudulent, and subsequently the formation of the board was illegitimate. The dissolved board was replaced by a temporary executive committee to run the federation's affairs until new elections take place under full judicial supervision. However, media reports suggested El-Borai was working on a new plan to replace the ETUF with an entirely new body that will enjoy complete independence of the government. The ETUF -- dominated by the dissolved National Democratic Party (NDP) -- was said to be the tool used by the former regime to suppress labour activism and keep it isolated from domestic politics. That's why previous court rulings were not implemented. The implementation of the new decision, however, does not appear to be an easy step. On Sunday, more than 700 supporters of the dissolved board took to the streets to protest against the cabinet decree. They attempted to break into the ETUF's downtown offices and hold an emergency general assembly to choose a new board. Police forces managed to bring things under control. Immediately after the issuance of the cabinet decree, El-Borai requested that the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) freeze all the assets and bank accounts of the ETUF. Minister of Manpower El-Borai also requested the bank to freeze special accounts belonging to the federation and its sub- unions nationwide. He said the identities of those mandated to supervise the frozen accounts would be announced later, and will be held accountable for any corruption charges. According to Kamal Abu Aita, long-time labour activist, the temporary executive committee which will be in charge will be completely independent of the government and that its main job will be to lay the foundation of a free labour movement, following the example of democratic countries. In 1942, Egypt's workers won the right to form unions, and after the revolution of 1952, former president Gamal Abdel-Nasser allowed the formation of federations in order to use their support to reinforce the legitimacy of his regime. But Nasser's successors, Anwar El-Sadat and Hosni Mubarak, tended to limit the independence of labour unions and keep them under the government's tight control through the ETUF. The three regimes also banned the establishment of independent labour unions and conditioned that any new union must be approved by the government and the ETUF board. The ETUF consists of 24 labour unions and has more than four million workers as members. According to the law, its president is not elected directly by the workers but by the general board of directors of the ETUF which is formed from the chairmen of the 24 labour unions. Labor elections conducted in 2006 handed members of the NDP the chairmanship seats of 22 out of 24 labour unions within the ETUF. Hussein Megawer, president of the ETUF, is currently facing charges of administrative corruption and involvement in the attack on protesters in Tahrir Square on 2 February, known as "The Battle of the Camel" which came at the height of the uprising which toppled the government. Fourteen senior NDP officials are also being questioned. In March, El-Borai announced an unprecedented decision giving the right to millions of Egyptian workers to establish labour unions and federations independent of the government in their regulations, financial affairs and elections. According to the decision, the Ministry of Manpower has no authority over any labour union and does not have the authority to accept or reject the formation of new labour unions which will be formed simply by submitting notification to the ministry. The decision came after several hundred workers founded a parallel entity of the ETUF, the first independent trade union federation since 1957. More than 250,000 workers have joined the new federation since. The federation includes the Real Estate Tax Authority Employees' Union, the Egyptian Health Technicians Syndicate, Federation of Pensioners, and the Independent Teachers' Syndicate, all of which have been established in the last 18 months. Labour activists told Al-Ahram Weekly that dissolving the ETUF was a complicated task since the federation was, in the words of one, a giant entity which has several affiliated institutions under its control. A report issued by the ETUF says it has 1,850 union committees across Egypt. The federation owns several educational institutions including the Labour University, the Labour Culture Institution, the Egyptian Private School, Al-Moaasa Social and Sports Club and Dream Resort along Egypt's North Coast. "In order to control the ETUF, the boards of these affiliated bodies should be dissolved and their chairmen questioned on charges of corruption," the report said.
