The International Labour Organization (ILO) lifted Egypt's name from the blacklist of countries violating the rights and freedoms of laborers, upon promises by the Egyptian government to pass a law on the right of laborers to form unions after a House of Representatives is elected.
The organization blacklisted other 25 countries for violating the rights of laborers.
Secretary General of the Egyptian Trade Union Federation and a member of the ILO's standards's committee in Egypt, who currently heads a delegation representing Egypt at the ILO's conference held in Geneva, Mohamed Wahballah said the Egyptian delegation held several meetings with officials of the organization, most recently with the Chairman of the Standards' Committee.
The Egyptian delegation includes representatives of the Ministry of Manpower and Immigration, the Egyptian Trade Union Federation, and the union of the chamber of commerce, according to Wahballah.
Wahballah added in a press statement Friday that the Egyptian delegation stressed during these meetings that the Egyptian Trade Union Federation in Egypt believes in the freedom of forming trade unions and does not oppose their formation within enterprises, which provides an opportunity for trade union pluralism.
Egypt's political success after the election of a new president would lead to a state of stability, which would be reflected in turn on the situation of the labour movement and would push the economy forward, Wahballah told the ILO officials.
The law on forming labour unions, which was one of the reasons behind blacklisting Egypt by the ILO, will be discussed following the election of the House of Representatives, the delegation told the ILO officials.
Chairman of the Egyptian Trade Union Federation Gebaly al-Meraghy said that the delegation succeeded in emphasizing that Egypt did not violate the legitimate rights of workers and did not violate international labor conventions.
Deputy Chairman of the Egyptian Trade Union Federation Magdy Badawy stressed that lifting Egypt's name from the ILO's blacklist would have a great impact on investments in Egypt. Placing Egypt on the ILO's short-term blacklist could have led to imposing economic sanctions on the country for violating the rights of laborers.
Lifting Egypt's name from the ILO's blacklist caused a state of discontent in Egypt's trade unions.
Fatma Ramadan, member of the executive office of the Egyptian Federation of Independent Trade Unions, said that the Egyptian government did not amend the conditions of workers which caused Egypt to be blacklisted by the ILO, stressing that labor protests were still ongoing.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
