The International Union of Service Employees has decided in principle to grant membership to Egypt's Health Sciences Syndicate, according to syndicate chairman Ahmed Sayed Abdel Maqsoud.
“We are the second independent Egyptian syndicate to join the union after the Real Estate Tax Syndicate,” he said.
“Final approval will be granted by the international union’s general assembly in March,” he added, noting that union officials had already congratulated their counterparts at the syndicate on the development.
Abdel Maqsoud went on to explain that Egypt's Health Services Syndicate included all hospital and medical unit employees, while Egypt's Health Sciences Syndicate included all technicians working in the field.
However, Abdel Hamid Abdel Gawad, chairman of the Health Services Syndicate–a member of the official Egyptian Trade Union Federation–pointed out that independent syndicates were technically illegal in Egypt.
“Independent syndicates violate the law on trade unions,” he said. “That's why we withdrew our membership from the international union after it accepted the independent Real Estate Tax Syndicate as a member.”
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
