Minister of Manpower Kamal Abu Eita will file a report to the prosecutor general accusing the Egyptian Trade Federation Union (ETUF) of financial violations, state-owned Al-Ahram reported. MostafaRostum, head of the ETUF's International Relations Administration, said that the Central Auditing Organisation (CAO) reported severalaccounting errors by the union "and we have addressed it". Rostumcalled the accusations "propaganda" fabricated by the ministry in order to distractpublic opinion from the issue of minimum and maximum wages for workers, which he said Abu Eita had not achieved. The union is calling for an investigation from the prosecutor general to prove their innocence, Rostum said. Ministry consultant Abdel Khalek Farouk told Al-Ahram that this is part of a "fierce war against ETUF corruption" which will involve a new law that would provide independent trade unions legal protection on par with that of the general unions to which ETUF belongs. Rostummeanwhile said a campaign has been mounted against Abu Eita accusing him of taking a bribe during his tenure as head of the Egyptian Federation of Independent Trade Unions, adding that ETUF have filed a case. "Apparently Abu Eita is trying to distract the public opinion from this case," he said. Earlier in September, Abu Eita oversaw a leadership transfer in the ETUF from Gebaly El-Maraghy to Abdel Fatah Ibrahim following a vote by 24 general unions. Abu Eita's appointment to Minister of Manpower in July had sparked protests by hundreds of ETUF workers.
