Dozens of members of the “We won't be terrified.. No to workers' redundancies!” campaign and representatives of rights groups demonstrated yesterday in front of the International Labor Organization (ILO)'s Cairo office for the Middle East and North Africa, calling on the organization to "assume its responsibilities" and prevent workers' redundancies. Protesters also called on the organization to work towards returning the more than 1000 employees fired for their participation in labor rights protests to their jobs. Protesters from Petrotrade, el-Amiria printing house, and a delegation from the Independent Union for Workers of the Real Estate Tax Authority participated in the protest and presented a memorandum to the ILO in which they requested its intervention to protect Egyptian workers against the government and against businessmen. After meeting with ILO officials, the protesters expressed their disappointment, saying the organization did not seem concerned but, rather, gave the impression of supporting the Egyptian government. Mohamed el-Tarabolsi, an ILO official, told Al-Masry Al-Youm, “We met with the workers and explained the organization's role to them; it cannot carry out the job of national institutions and authorities authorized to resolve workers' problems.” Youseff el-Qaryouti, director of the office, told Al-Masry Al-Youm in a phone interview that the ILO cannot intervene to resolve workers' problems in Egypt, especially as there are mechanisms, legal channels and institutions in place with responsibility for resolving such issues. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
