Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1993, published 80th ILC session (1993)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Egypt (Ratification: 1957)

The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government in its report. While the Committee was in session, the legislative text on professional organizations of 17 February 1993 was received by the Office. The Committee proposes examining it at its next session.

It recalls that the divergencies between the national legislation and the Convention concern the following points:

- sections 7, 13, 14, 16, 17, 31, 41, 52 and 65 of Act No. 35 of 1976 on trade unions, as amended by Act No. 1 of 1981, which institutionalize a single trade union system;

- sections 41 and 62 of the same Act on the control exercised by the Confederation of Egyptian Trade Unions over the nomination and election procedures for trade union office and the financial management of trade unions;

- sections 93 to 106 of the Labour Code, as amended by Act No. 137 of 6 August 1981, on compulsory arbitration at the request of one party, which go beyond essential services in the strict sense of the term, that is those whose interruption would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population;

- section 70(b) of Act No. 35 of 1976 on the powers of the Public Prosecutor to remove from office the executive committee of a trade union which has provoked work stoppages or absenteeism in a public service;

- section 4 of Act No. 95 of 1980 on the protection of values, under which a person may be banned for a period ranging from six months to five years from standing for election or being appointed to the chairmanship or membership of management committees of trade union organizations or federations.

The Committee takes due note of the information supplied by the Government in its report to the effect that it is currently embarking upon the revision of the national legislation. The Committee also notes that meetings have been organized for this purpose with senior ILO officials in the context of the examination of structural changes, the development of the public sector, the promotion of the private sector and the participation of the ILO in examining the possibility of unifying the labour legislation and bringing it into conformity with international labour Conventions and Recommendations.

The Government states that the Ministry of Manpower and Training has established working groups to re-examine ratified Conventions relating to the protection of workers with a view to ensuring their strict application and to avoid observations being made by the Committee concerning them.

The Committee expresses the firm hope that the above working groups, based on the comments which it has been making for many years, will endeavour to adopt the necessary provisions as soon as possible in order to guarantee to all workers the right to establish, if they so wish, trade union organizations outside the existing trade union structure and to recognize the right of workers' organizations to elect their representatives in full freedom and to administer the finances of their activities without interference by the public authorities, as well as to confine restrictions on the right to strike which go beyond the limitations which are compatible with the principles of freedom of association.

[The Government is asked to report in detail for the period ending 30 June 1993.]