Egypt has played an important role in the history of workers: A three-day sit-in over pay grievances by pyramid builders in the 12th century B.C. was the world's first documented strike. The situation for workers in Egypt today sadly bears much similarity to that conflict between Egyptian workers and their government many centuries ago. Today's Egyptian government maintains an iron grip on power, harshly punishes dissent and plays a central role in a system that keeps workers powerless and poor.
In recognition of its extraordinary courage and perseverance in the face of substantial state repression, the AFL-CIO is proud to grant the Egyptian workers' movement the 2009 George Meany-Lane Kirkland Human Rights Award.
Angered by severe economic pressures and frustrated by the inadequate response of "labor" representation in Egypt, workers started to take to the streets in a wave of strikes and other public protests in the early 2000s. More than 3,000 strikes, demonstrations and sit-ins since 2004 have involved more than 2 million workers. The Egyptian government's response to these protests has ranged from attempts to strangle the movement through bureaucratic red tape to more violent responses that have included billy clubs, tear gas, imprisonment and even torture for many of the movement's leaders. Yet Egyptian workers haven't backed down: They are leading the most significant social movement in the Arab world since World War II, and the largest labor unrest in Egypt since the late 19th century. Egyptian workers are continuing to challenge their employers, their unions and their nation's government.
In the fall of 2007, in an effort to achieve wage parity with counterparts employed directly by the national Ministry of Finance, municipal tax collectors organized public demonstrations to publicize their demands. In December of that year, about 3,000 municipal real estate tax collectors held an 11-day sit-in strike in front of the Egyptian Ministry of Finance. The strike ended with the municipal tax collectors being granted a bonus equal to two months pay and a pay raise of approximately 325 percent. The first nationally coordinated mobilization of public employees in the country, the strike had been organized by democratically elected representatives of the tax collectors.
Buoyed by their success, that strike committee and its supporters—led by Kamal Abu 'Eita—decided to build a new organization that would continue to advocate forcefully for the needs of its members. They gathered 30,000 signatures endorsing a new, independent union and elected local union committees in the governorates (provinces). On December 20, 2008, more than 1,000 municipal tax collectors from all over Egypt met in Cairo and declared the establishment of the Independent General Union of Real Estate Tax Authority Workers (IGURETA).
IGURETA's democratically elected Constituent Council, supported by 300 union members loudly demonstrating in front of the Ministry of Manpower's headquarters in Cairo, submitted an application to form a new union to the Minister of Manpower and Migration that was finally accepted after tense negotiations. The first independent Egyptian trade union in more than half a century had been established. Unfortunately, the 55,000 municipal real estate tax collectors are the only workers so far to have succeeded in winning recognition of their own autonomous workers' organization.
The Center for Trade Union and Workers Services (CTUWS) is a nongovernmental labor support organization that provides important institutional support for Egyptian workers, including IGURETA and many other fledgling independent labor organizations. Established in March 1990 by Kamal 'Abbas and the late Yusuf Darwish (1910-2006), CTUWS—now led by Kamal 'Abbas—aims to promote independent trade unionism, defend workers' right to strike, organize workers in the private sector, build the organizational skills of workers, promote the engagement of women in trade union activity, combat child labor, develop democratic practices in Egypt and build cooperation between workers and trade unions in Egypt and around the world.
The Egyptian government has tried to silence CTUWS. In early 2007, two of CTUWS's regional offices were shut down. In April of that same year, national security authorities closed the CTUWS headquarters on the grounds that the CTUWS was not appropriately registered with the state. This was in spite of the fact that CTUWS had tried to register as a nongovernmental organization (NGO) in accord with Egyptian law but had been declined on the advice of the nation's security apparatus. (CTUWS may have been targeted for greater repression than the other labor-oriented Egyptian NGOs because of its good relations with the global labor movement.)
Egypt's Administrative Court ruled that the government had no cause either to deny the petition of CTUWS to register as an NGO or to close the organization. Bowing to considerable international criticism, the government accepted the decision and CTUWS reopened in July 2008. CTUWS continues to provide invaluable support for Egyptian workers and to engage with the global labor movement.
The IGURETA and the CTUWS represent a growing representative labor movement for workers in Egypt.
As leading examples of Egyptian workers' dedication to fighting for freedom of association and workers' rights, the AFL-CIO is pleased to award the IGURETA and CTUWS, on behalf of all Egyptian workers, the 2009 George Meany-Lane Kirkland Human Rights Award.