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Strikes and the Law

Strikes in international covenants
Strikes mean that a group of workers stop working in an organized manner and for a limited rime period as a way of demanding their rights.
Strikes are one of the most important mechanisms that workers use to protect their interests. There are some countries that limit this right, while other countries ignore it and other countries forbid it and punish the workers who go on strikes.
Workers' right to strike is stated in the international covenant for the economic and social rights, and also in the International Labor Organization agreement no. 87.
It is acceptable to ban strikes in some substantial sectors. this includes workers in the field of water, hospitals, air and sea transportation, bakeries, pharmacies, civil defense, electricity, gas, sewer and communication. This excludes workers in harbors, plane repair, land transportation, banks, agriculture, mines, metal, petrol, education and food.
The right to strike in the Egyptian labor law
The Egyptian legislation states clearly that workers have the right to strike, which is included in the new Egyptian labor law no. 12 for the year 2003, but is has a lot of hindrances that made its implementation almost impossible, as most of the conditions and stipulations stated in the law contradict with the international criteria. As the law states that strikes must be organized by the syndicate committee, and if there isn't a syndicate committee, it must be done through the general syndicate committee with the approval of two thirds of its board members, and the work owner must be informed in writing before the strike date with at least ten days, this document must include the reasons for such a strike and how long it will take, and the strike period will be considered as an unpaid vacation.
The Egyptian Prime Minister has issued decisions denying some sectors from the right to strikes, while these sectors have the right to srike according to the international work criteria, like education, land, air and sea transportation, metal and military factories. His decision also prevents workers in these sectors to even call for strikes, which is a complete violation to this right.
This is part of implementing the globalization policies that have led to many negative effects, like:
• Loosing professional safety.
• Leaving protection policies that for example specify the minimum limit for salaries.
• Weakening the role of social partners in organizing the work relationship.
• Marginalizing the role of the state and forcing it to withdraw from its social role especially in the field of supporting goods, services and social security, which leads to increasing prices.
• Leaving the markets exposed to the supply and demand, which leads to increasing unemployment.
Guaranteeing the right to strike without any conditions according to the ILO criteria is the only way to protecting this right, leading to the protection of workers' rights and interests.
LCHR calls all civil society organizations to work together on amending the labor laws and other relevant laws to guarantee workers' rights, especially their right to strikes without any threats to protect their interests and their right to decent living.