The Public Utilities Union threatened to freeze its membership in the International Public Services Federation in case the Real Estate Tax Union is admitted to the federation without reference to the General Union of Banks and Financial Businesses, and the General Federation of Egyptian Trade Unions. The independent Real Estate Tax Union said it will ask the International Public Services Federation for an international arbitration as regards the violations against it in Egypt. Mohamed el-Sayed Morsy, President of the Public Utilities Union and Shura Council member, asked Peter Waldorf, Secretary-General of the International Federation, not to recognize the independent Real Estate Tax Union, pointing out that trade unions in Egypt are formed under legal grounds established by the Constitution. In a letter he sent to Hussein Megawer, President of the General Federation of Egyptian Trade Unions, and Ghassan Salibi, Regional Secretary of the Federation, Morsy stressed the independence of the trade unions and the rejection of any interference in their administrative affairs, adding that joining international and regional organizations does not require prior approval by administrative bodies, such as the Ministry of Manpower, in affirmation of the principles of the rights and freedoms of trade unions, and the Charter of the International Labor Solidarity, which was approved by the conventions of the International Labor Organization. The Health and Administrative Services Unions stood in solidarity with the Public Utilities Union freezing its membership in the International Federation, in affirmation of the unity of the Egyptian trade unions.
In return, Kamal Abu Eita, the head of the independent Real Estate Tax Union, said he would submit a request for international arbitration by the International Services Federation to discuss the violations his union is exposed to by the officials of the Banks and Insurance Union that is headed by Farouk Shehata el-Aardi.
He told Al-Masry Al-Youm: “The Utilities Union's protest against our membership in the International Services Federation is worthless, as we have already been admitted, and we have already paid the membership fees, together with some 200 million members around the world.” He said the Utilities Union fears fighting the battle for pluralism, wondering about the role of the Banks Union. He said: “Why did the Banks Union, which is a member of the Federation, not protest, although it will be the most affected by our presence,” noting that the Banks Union cannot protest their presence because it has been exposed to international reservations, and thus is powerless and incapable - as he put it - of protesting. He said he would ask the International Services Federation to examine their own rules and regulations and those of the Egyptian Banks Union so as to write off the membership of any union that violates international agreements and the Constitution of the Federation. He pointed out that his union is currently operating normally, and that its members are about 37,000 employees, praising the existing cooperation between them and Minister of Manpower Aisha Abdel Hadi, who helps his union face its problems, as he put it.
