Land Center for Human Rights Issued a report about the demands of the workers in Egypt and the report is considered no. (82) of a series of economic and social rights reports that are issued by Land Center that deals with the first axis of the report analyzes the content of labor protests as movements for social masses of workers in Egypt and a presentation of their demands for change and the report shows that the demands of Egypt's workers change associated mainly suffering they are living since the adoption of the Egyptian government for the restructuring program and the resulting displacement and deterioration of the situation of workers and the report indicates an increase in protests by workers in 2009, 47% of the total protests are from government employees, 37% private sector workers, 16% public sector workers. And proportionate to the importance of moves with the structure of the working class as it represents government employees (5.6 million) more than 25% of the workforce, the private sector employees are 5.1 million and 2.9 million private sector investment, and business, which curtailed openings to become about 700 thousand of them 300 thousand in the industrial sector.
In 2009, about 126 thousand workers lost their jobs, and the oldest 58 miners to commit suicide to the inadequacy of their incomes to the needs of their families. 133 deaths were detected and 1206 injuries also due to the absence of mass industrial safety and occupational health. The report confirms the deteriorating conditions of private sector workers because of the lack of commitment by employers’ decisions to increase wages and pay increments that have accumulated for more than five years in some companies without taking any real steps by the government and the Ministry of Labor to force them to comply with the law as the report indicates the absence of trade union organizations, the official to exercise its role and some have even acted as hostile to the demands of workers in many of protests.
Going on the second axis on the development of the official trade union organization in Egypt and emphasizes that the emergence of trade unions has been associated since its inception, the labor movement. With the cigarettes rollers’ strike in December 1899 the initial formation of trade unions appeared in the form of associations and links to unions. With the rise of labor strikes after the First World War escalated with the formation of trade unions, even back in Egypt, the first union for workers in 1921, disbanded by the resistance in 1924, with the wave of the struggle of the thirties and forties flourished again, trade union action in Egypt and the evolution of even made the July Revolution, the nationalization of the trade union movement. Having made the labor movement in Egypt, important stages in the elaboration and development of trade union movement and fought for the independence of the unions for governance and control of the political forces on both, and the Union of United Workers came up.
One of the main demands of work rights is to have a job, this requirement which is the center of the life of any person and as a source of livelihood and the preservation of human dignity and the report shows that this right is subject to many violations and abuses, the report emphasizes that the right to work is one of the inherent rights in the Constitution and the Egyptian law, as well as international conventions and refers to the government's role in the commitment to provide employment opportunities, as the text of the Egyptian Constitution guarantees the thirteenth article:
First: The work is not a luxury that can go down nor is a grant from the State that can be given or prohibited according to its desires nor is coercion of the worker on the work that he didn’t accept willingly, or is located where a distinction between him and other citizens to be considered not related to the value of work and other conditions objectivity. That first paragraph of Article 13 of the Constitution governing the work as the right of every citizen may not be wasted or restricted, including disrupting its core, and a duty to abide by its responsibility and the advancement of its toll both and honor is as well as his state of interest and remove the barriers from the way according to their potential and may therefore interfere with the legislature to delay the right to work, but the regulation that should be done concerning this right must not be inimical to its essence.
Second: The Origin of work is to be involuntary based on free choice so that the working relationship are based on buying the working force by the employer after presentation and not by carrying a citizen to work, is merely to be anything according to the law and as an exceptional measure to satisfy a public purpose and with just remuneration is conditions required by the Constitution in compulsory labor.
The right to have a decent job is equal to a lot of rights such as worker's right in the living standards and maintains the health and well-being of his family and includes adequate nutrition, clothing, housing, health and medical care and secured against the risk of unemployment, disease and disability, widowhood and old age. The report emphasizes on the rights of workers in occupational health, safety and ensuring the working environment and maintains their health as the most important priorities of this right.
The last theme displays some recommendations that will ensure a dignified human life for workers and ensure access to decent work of Egyptians and the most important of those recommendations are:
Exchange of financial receivables outstanding for the workers and stop the abuse departments and to stop neglect and ignore the officials to the demands of protesters and prevention of policies of unfair dismissal and install temporary employment and improve wages and the application of international labor standards and ensure a minimum standard of living so that not less than 1200 pounds per month to commit the government to intervene to stem the rise in prices and adjust the minimum wage within a period not exceeding two years and to link wages to prices and demands of the strikers in different business sectors.
To stop selling the companies to recover the state of companies defaulting investors and fugitives to maintain public interest in accordance with the constitution and accountability of involvement in corruption precedent as well as the need to ensure management is participatory democracy in the future State bears historical responsibility the management of this sector to address corruption and imbalances in the this sector, to improve the conditions and productivity and allow the new management control of civil society institutions to work, to ensure disbursement of profit returns on improving public services and the conditions of economic and social infrastructure and to ensure education and health care workers and people with limited income and the advancement of our society and addressing the negative effects of economic liberalization policies.
To prevent arbitrary dismissal of workers and to have a chapter through the elimination of execution is not only as it was a final ruling. To stop the military intervention of the arbitrator on issues of civilian nationals. And the application of principle of free circulation of elective power of all State institutions and public scrutiny of the elections and the release of all detainees and immediate termination of the emergency law and to ensure that all civil and political rights of citizens in Egypt.