Federation of Egyptian Trade Unions

The Egyptian Federation of Independent Trade Unions is the first independent trade union organization since the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. Labor organization had previously been completely under government control.

FETU
Full name Federation of Egyptian Trade Unions
Founded 2011
Members unknown - formed out of existing independent Trade Unions
Affiliation ITUC
Office location Egypt
Country Egypt

Formation

For the years leading up to the Revolution, workers had been engaged in strikes and actions against the Mubarak regime. These actions eventually coalesced into the Revolution itself and formed the movement behind the establishment of the Federation. [1] On 30 January 2011, as part of the 2011 Egyptian protests, a meeting convened in Tahrir square led to the formation of the Federation of Egyptian Trade Unions in response to the effective state control of the Egyptian Trade Union Federation.[2][3]

The founding declaration of the Constitutional Body was issued in the name of the following organisations,[4] as well as various workers’ independent groups in industries:

  • RETA
  • Retired Workers’ Union
  • Health Professionals Union
  • Teachers’ Independent Union

Name

The new federation has been referred to by a number of English names since its inception. This is probably due to the translation from Arabic.

The different names by which the federation is known include:

  • Federation of Egyptian Trade Unions.[3]
  • Egypt Federation for Independent Unions.[5]
  • Egyptian Federation for Independent Unions.[4]
  • Egyptian Independent Trade Union Federation.[6]
  • Egyptian Federation of Independent Trade Unions.[7]

Demands

The first acts of the new federation were to call for a general strike in support of the opposition movement's demands for change, and to publish a list of demands for wage reform, welfare reform, workers rights and the release of opposition detainees. These demands received support from a number of Labour organisations internationally, including the International Trade Union Confederation[8] and the British Trades Union Congress Touchstone Blogger, Owen Tudor.[5] In July 2011, the federation called for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel and the expulsion of Histadrut from the ITUC, which won the backing of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU).[9]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.merip.org/mero/mero082313
  2. ↑ CTUWS
  3. 1 2 TUC
  4. 1 2 Marxist.com
  5. 1 2 Touchstone Blog
  6. ↑ Solidarity Magazine
  7. ↑ Comment at Workers Liberty
  8. ↑ ITUC
  9. ↑


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