By Cam McGrath
"CAIRO, Aug 16, 2011 (IPS) - The trade union federation that ex-dictator Hosni Mubarak used to repress labour movements and mobilise regime support for sham elections during his 30-year rule has been disbanded, striking a powerful blow to the old order.
Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf ordered the executive board of the Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF) dissolved to comply with a court ruling that stipulated that the board was illegitimate because it had been selected through fraudulent elections. Labour activists say the board was stacked with loyalists of the now-defunct ruling party, who used their position to control the labour body's 3.5 million members.
"Since it was created in 1957, ETUF has been an arm of the regime… that has carried out the government's policies when it should have been looking after the interests of workers," says Tamer Fathy, a spokesman for the Centre for Trade Union and Workers’ Services (CTUWS), a local labour rights group.
Under Mubarak, draconian labour legislation required all unions to be part of ETUF, and generally prohibited strikes or collective bargaining unless approved by its syndicate heads.
Fathy says the federation propped up the regime by preventing workers from holding strikes or taking any action that challenged the state or its economic policies. It also mobilised large numbers of workers for pro-government rallies and bussed them to polling stations during elections to vote for the ruling party.
"Dissolving ETUF's board was a serious blow to the remnants of the regime," he says....."
"CAIRO, Aug 16, 2011 (IPS) - The trade union federation that ex-dictator Hosni Mubarak used to repress labour movements and mobilise regime support for sham elections during his 30-year rule has been disbanded, striking a powerful blow to the old order.
Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf ordered the executive board of the Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF) dissolved to comply with a court ruling that stipulated that the board was illegitimate because it had been selected through fraudulent elections. Labour activists say the board was stacked with loyalists of the now-defunct ruling party, who used their position to control the labour body's 3.5 million members.
"Since it was created in 1957, ETUF has been an arm of the regime… that has carried out the government's policies when it should have been looking after the interests of workers," says Tamer Fathy, a spokesman for the Centre for Trade Union and Workers’ Services (CTUWS), a local labour rights group.
Under Mubarak, draconian labour legislation required all unions to be part of ETUF, and generally prohibited strikes or collective bargaining unless approved by its syndicate heads.
Fathy says the federation propped up the regime by preventing workers from holding strikes or taking any action that challenged the state or its economic policies. It also mobilised large numbers of workers for pro-government rallies and bussed them to polling stations during elections to vote for the ruling party.
"Dissolving ETUF's board was a serious blow to the remnants of the regime," he says....."
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