At a conference currently underway in Geneva, Switzerland, the International Labor Organization (ILO) criticized the Egyptian government for what it described as "interference" in labor affairs. The organization lashed out at Egyptian security forces in particular for their role in dispersing recent labor protests. According to a report by the ILO's international labor standards committee, the Egyptian government has failed to respond to previous complaints by the organization about repeated interference in matters pertaining to Egypt's national labor force. The report stated that Egypt continued to violate the C87 agreement on freedom of association and C98 agreement on freedom of collective bargaining. The organization gave Egypt another year to improve its behavior before the issuance of a report by the ILO technical aid mission that visited Cairo last April. The ILO also called for a fact-finding committee to investigate alleged assaults on protesting workers by Egyptian security forces. It also noted that Egypt had failed to amend its syndicate and labor laws, as had been previously requested by the organization. The laws in their current form forbid labor strikes without the prior approval of the Egyptian Trade Union Federation, which enjoys exclusive control over syndicate finances. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
