Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1994, published 81st ILC session (1994)

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.

1. The Committee notes with regret that, despite the assurances given by the Government in its previous report that it was undertaking the revision of the national legislation and that meetings had been organized for this purpose with high-level officials of the ILO with a view to bringing its legislation into conformity with the requirements of the Convention, the Government confines itself to reiterating the comments and information provided previously.

In these conditions, the Committee is bound to recall that for several years its comments have dealt with the need to repeal or amend the following provisions of its legislation:

(a) 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, contrary to Article 2 of the Convention, which provides that workers and employers, without distinction whatsoever, shall have the right to establish and, subject only to the rules of the organization concerned, to join organizations of their own choosing without previous authorization. The Committee also recalls that workers must be able, if they so wish, to establish trade union organizations outside the existing trade union structure;

(b) 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, contrary to Article 3 which provides that workers' and employers' organizations shall have the right to draw up their constitutions and rules, to elect their representatives in full freedom and to organize their administration;

(c) 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, and section 70(b) of Act No. 35 of 1976 on the powers of the public prosecutor to request the criminal courts to remove from office the executive committee of a trade union which has provoked work stoppages or absenteeism in a public service, which is contrary to the right of workers and their organizations to organize their activities and formulate their programmes to defend their economic, social and professional interests, including by means of a strike, without interference by the public authorities, in accordance with the principles contained in Articles 3 and 10. In this connection, the Committee notes with interest the draft text of the Labour Code, section 183 of which provides that a dispute may only be submitted to arbitration at the request of both parties. Noting however that section 182 of the draft text provides that a dispute which arises in an establishment which provides "vital services" (which shall be determined by the Prime Minister under section 199(2) of the draft text) in which strikes are forbidden, can still be submitted to arbitration at the request of one party, the Committee recalls that any restrictions, or prohibition on the right to strike should be confined to public servants exercising authority in the name of the State or to essential services in the strict sense of the term, that is services the interruption of which would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the whole or part of the population (1994 General Survey on Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining, paras. 158 and 159).

2. The Committee also notes that the Act respecting "guarantees for democracy" in professional union associations, adopted on 17 February 1993, regulates in a too detailed manner the right of trade unions to freely elect their representatives (for example, length of trade union office, control of elections, quorum). Committee recalls that it should be left to trade unions to regulate their election procedures in their constitutions or rules, and that the law should be confined to guaranteeing that democratic rules are respected.

3. The Committee requests the Government to indicate in its next report the measures which have been taken to bring the whole of the above legislation into conformity with the requirements of the Convention.

4. The Committee is also addressing a request directly to the Government concerning Act No. 95 of 1980 on "the protection of values".