Ten years have passed since the inauguration of the restructuring and the privatization process, which implied the selling of public sector factories and the establishment of new companies by investors!
After a decade of the elaboration of new terms such as, privatization, renovation, closing, disassociation, dissolution, etc. the experiment has not yet finished nor matured. Now, the urgent questions that preoccupy the minds of most Egyptians are of this instance: Was it successful? Did it fail? What did this experiment achieve for the millions of laborers? And what has it achieved for the businessmen? What did it provide to the low-income groups in society?
Still, posing these questions do not stimulate but the feeling of vainness as they are not new in reality. But when the questions are mixed with cries of laborers against company administration, with their long queues before the Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF), with the strikes and sit-ins in factories, and with their massive demonstrations to advance their grievances, they leave the theoretical arena, to take a place in the heart of events. The real conditions under which workers live provide the best and most accurate answer to the above questions.
Here comes the importance of a report of this sort; the 16th issue under the economic and social series of Land Center. Thus when we discuss the state of laborers we may recognize the real direction the policies of economic reform are leading our country and our position from the catch-phrases of development in the third millennium.
Through this report we try to discuss the circumstances under which laborers work in the three sectors (the business sector, the governmental departments and the private sector) throughout the last six months (from January 1st to June 31st – 2000). Our aim is to find out the most proper means of defending the workers rights.
In this concern it is worth mentioning that the period covered by the report has witnessed about 69 protests monitored in 47 authorities in both private and business sectors as well as various state departments. Six of these protests were individual represented in hunger strikes, while the rest were distinct with the collective movement and the solidarity among the workers of the various companies; whether they were strikes, sit downs or demonstrations.
The reasons of these protests were varied although they arose from the main reason of the increasing arbitrary practices from the administrations against the laborers. These practices included, for instance, liquidation of companies without any care for the workers, achieving astronomical profits at the expense of workers, and sometimes this was accompanied with violation of the laborers’ rights. It was reported that the administrations, in this regard, used several means; the most important of them was seizing up the financial benefits as the most active means of pressing on the workers. The number of protests initiated for this reason amounted to 50% of the total protests during the period covered by this report.
In this regard we have to mention that the past reports of this sort issued by Land Center were concerned of monitoring complaints raised by the workers. Such complaints are not reported here in view of their enormous number. For instance, according to the statements of the Minister of the Work Force, they reached about 20 thousand complaints. Therefore, we have divided the report into the following four main chapters:
Chapter 1: discusses the conditions of workers in the business sector, and the most important means by which the administrations in this sector get rid off the workers. The practices of the administrations included arbitrary transfer of workers to work sites that did not exist. They also refused to pay the workers' financial deserves. In view of this, workers reacted with 23 protests in 19 companies, in the form of strike actions, sit-downs and demonstrations. In this regard, it was reported that the security forces have played a crucial role in oppressing some of these protest movements, while the stance of administrations was limited to unfulfilled promises. But some trade unions committees played a reasonable role in solidarity with the laborers though the majority of them supported the administration against the laborers.
Chapter 2: is assigned to the workers' conditions in the state-owned sector after privatization. The chapter reports the most important protest movements launched by the workers in the state sector as privatization proved detrimental to workers and low-income groups. About 150 protests - 3 demonstrations, 3 strikes, 4 hunger strikes, 3 sit-downs and 2 gatherings are reported. All these practices occurred in 13 authorities the share of privatization among which did not reach but only one authority, namely “Ibila” that belongs to the Egyptian Railways.
Chapter3: handles the occurrences in the private sector, particularly after the witnessed increasing of the factories shut down followed with fleeing of some businessmen with their capitals. Where the last left behind thousands of laborers with whom the case ended to be poorer and workless under a pretext of that the factories are in not need to them. The chapter includes a presentation on the most important protests that reached to 31 protests as follows: 10 work strikes, 10 sit-down strikes, 3 demonstrations, 2 hungry strikes. Those protests occurred in 16 companies, added to seven individual protests practiced by the drivers of micro-buses as resistance to the new traffic code.
The report ends with final notes in which we try to conclude several recommendations sent by LCHR to all the individuals and organizations a well as the formal authorities to take in consideration about the situation of workers in one hand, and the rights of them in the other. Thus we hope these recommendations to be seriously taken in consideration by the concerned decision-makers as respecting of the commitment to the human rights that are postulated in the constitution of Egypt as well as all the international conventions of human rights.