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Foundation of the Egyptian Democratic Labour Congress

category north africa | workplace struggles | news report author Monday October 31, 2011 15:47author by Equipo de Trabajo para el Norte de África - Confederación General del Trabajo

For Democratic Active and Workers’ Representative Trade union Organization

In a meeting held at the Syndicate of Commercial Professionals “Togareen” in Abbassiya, Cairo on Friday 14th October 2011 the representatives of 149 trade unions announced the foundation of the Egyptian Democratic Labour Congress which is open for all the Egyptian workers without discrimination, stretches its hands to all of them who wish to establish their active independent unions and to all who work with it to liberate trade union rights from the shackles which restrained them for long bitter decades and to all who are biased to the right of the Egyptian workers to establish their trade unions freely and struggle to put fair labour standards into effect. [Castellano]
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Foundation of the Egyptian Democratic Labour Congress

For Democratic Active and Workers’ Representative Trade union Organization

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In a meeting held at the Syndicate of Commercial Professionals “Togareen” in Abbassiya, Cairo on Friday 14th October 2011 the representatives of 149 trade unions announced the foundation of the Egyptian Democratic Labour Congress which is open for all the Egyptian workers without discrimination, stretches its hands to all of them who wish to establish their active independent unions and to all who work with it to liberate trade union rights from the shackles which restrained them for long bitter decades and to all who are biased to the right of the Egyptian workers to establish their trade unions freely and struggle to put fair labour standards into effect.

The Congress is inspired by the history of the Egyptian trade union movement which was deep-rooted before the beginning of the 20th century and is based on a decades-long struggle against oppression, depredation, impoverishment and marginalization; and it commemorates the martyrs, strugglers and labour leaders who sacrificed their lives in defence of democratic trade union rights for the Egyptian workers. In their first founding meeting of the Congress, the trade union and labour leaders, activists and civil society organizations’ representatives considered the current situation of the labour and trade union movement and the challenges confronting it which were diagnosed in the following:

Although it was supposed that the implementation of the aforementioned court sentences should lead to dissolving all of ETUF’s institutions and branch unions, and in spite of the defects of the Temporary Committee - which comprised five of ETUF’s dissolved board of directors and is headed by one of its leaders who denies the principles of trade union freedoms - the issue is not to conduct elections, change ETUF’s leaders or restructure its institution. The issue is to dismantle the principles upon which the institution was built, liberate trade union action, liberate the workers and enable them to establish their democratic and independent trade unions. However, the fall of ETUF’s group, which dominated trade union action in our country for long years through oppression, tyranny and corruption, was not an easy thing. It was a very expressive change and a step to pave the tough road towards salvation and freedom. This step could not be completed without issuing the law on trade union freedoms and removing all the obstacles which hindered the right to establish trade unions during the previous agonizing period. Accordingly, it was necessary to introduce certain changes in the approaches of the labour and trade union movement as follows: Based upon reading the actual labour situation in Egypt as elaborated hereinabove, and according to the outputs of a complete work day and viewpoints exchanged in three successive sessions, it was decided to establish the Egyptian Democratic Labour Congress as follows:

The Egyptian Democratic Labour Congress

16 October 2011

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