Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - Egypt (Ratification: 1954)

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The Committee takes due note of the Government’s detailed reply received on 24 November 2021 to the 2021 observations of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and Public Services International (PSI), most of which are addressed in its comment under the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87).

Articles 1, 2 and 3 of the Convention. Adequate protection against anti-union discrimination and interference. The Committee takes due note of the Government’s detailed reply denying the allegations of anti-union discrimination in relation to a number of trade unionists in the process of forming new and independent trade unions and to the various acts of interference. Noting the Government’s previous reply as to the various legislative provisions protecting workers from anti-union discrimination and interference, the Committee requests the Government to provide with its next report statistics on the number of complaints brought under these provisions, the sanctions imposed and remedies provided.

Articles 4 and 6. Collective bargaining for public servants not engaged in the administration of the State. The Committee recalls that its previous comments concerned the exclusion from the scope of application of the draft Labour Code of the right to collective bargaining of civil servants of state agencies, including civil servants of units under local governments. The Committee notes that the Government refers once again to the Trade Union Organizations Law under which all civil workers have the right to form and join unions and to enjoy all the rights and privileges afforded to such organizations, including collective bargaining and consultation to defend their rights. The Government further provides examples of the employees in the Public Transport Corporation, employees at the Ministry of Tourism, as well as employees at the Ministry of Transport that have all benefited from the advantages of collective bargaining. Recalling that the Trade Union Organizations Law does not establish mechanisms and procedures for the engagement in collective bargaining, the Committee notes the Government’s reference to Order No. 50 of 2022 which determines the implementing rules governing the exercise of collective bargaining within the administrative body of the State and the preparation or collective labour agreements. The Government further indicates that in order to ensure that State employees who are not engaged in administration, enjoy the right to collective bargaining and collective agreements, the Minister of Labour and the President of the Central Agency for Regulation and Administration (the body which is specialized in matters related to State employees) amended a few provisions in the new draft Labour Code so as to ensure that civil employees in the State are prescribed by clear provisions related to collective bargaining, collective disputes and collective labour agreements. The Committee trusts that the amendments proposed will ensure that public servants not engaged in the administration of the State have the benefit of appropriate machinery ensuring their engagement in voluntary negotiation with a view to the regulation of their terms and conditions of employment and requests the Government to provide detailed information in this regard.

Order No. 50 of 2022. The Committee takes due note of the efforts of the Ministry of Manpower to establish a framework for the exercise of collective bargaining through the adoption of Order No. 50 of 2022. In this respect, the Committee requests the Government: (i) to indicate the criteria for determining the trade union organisation entitled to negotiate in the event of the presence of several trade unions within the enterprise; and (ii) observing that the last paragraph of section 5 of the Order provides that if one of the parties at the enterprise level refuses to engage in bargaining, the labour administration may, at the request of the other party, notify the employers' organisation or the general trade union concerned to begin negotiations on behalf of the recalcitrant party, to specify whether, on this basis, an agreement can be concluded despite the opposition of one of the interested parties.

Finally, the Committee recalls that it has been raising comments relating to restrictions on collective bargaining rights in the Labour Code No. 12 of 2003 for several years, many of which would appear to be addressed in the draft Labour Code. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the Senate has just finalized the formulation of the new draft Labour Code in preparation for its final discussion by the House of Representatives and that the Supreme Council for Social Dialogue after its re-composition (in accordance with the recommendations of the Project on promoting labour relations and its institutions in Egypt) shall discuss the draft law and examine the comments before it in order to resolve them, and subsequently refer them to the House of Representatives. Noting that the draft Labour Code has been pending adoption by the Parliament for many years now, the Committee urges the Government to provide detailed information on the progress made for its final adoption and trusts that in its final form, the Code will ensure greater conformity with the Convention.

Collective bargaining in practice.The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the number of collective agreements signed, as well as the sectors involved and the number of workers covered.

[The Government is asked to reply in full to the present comments in 2025.]