Message from the Egyptian Workers

To All the Egyptian Democratic Powers

We, the Egyptian workers meeting today Wednesday 2nd March 2011 in response to the Egyptian Federation
of Independent Trade Unions and the Center for Trade Union and Workers Services, announcing our
solidarity with the democratic demands of the Egyptian people’s revolution launched by the Egyptian youth
on25th January 2011 and emphasizing our commitment to continue the struggle for it, are sure of the great
potentials of our people which expressed themselves enthusiastically throughout 18 great days of our history
and look forward to overcome the years of distress, corruption and tyranny.
We, the Egyptian workers, who suffered for long years from the denial of our right to fair wages and decent
labour relations, who throughout the past four years organized protest movements and addressed the society
as a whole in order to change the current imbalance and who sent alarms against the unfair and oppressive
regime who did not listen to the voice of the unfairly treated workers .. we announce today before all the
categories and sectors of the Egyptian people, all the intellectuals, democratic powers, youth, institutions, the
media, the supporters of freedom and justice and to the whole world that the Egyptian Trade Union
Federation “ETUF” does not represent us anymore and does not have the right to speak on our behalf. To all
these powers we address the following message:
The Egyptian workers - who refused all the time to be represented by that governmental organization
which is a mere too for despotism and oppression – cannot accept it to represent them today in
particular after the stand it had taken against the revolution of the Egyptian people starting from its
signal of 26 January 2011 to presidents of the general trade unions asking them strongly “to abort any
attempt to get the workers involved in the demonstrations in Cairo and other governorates”, passing
by its second announcement on Wednesday the 2nd of February in which it welcomed “the great
changes and reforms announced by President Mubarak through reforming the constitution and
protecting Egypt from going to the unknown …the Egyptian workers cannot accept abusing the
regime” and ending with the participation of the president and some of the leaders of ETUF in person
in organizing violence against the protestors at Tahrir Square and the Bloody Wednesday.
That organization has fallen down after its last battle which it has launched, driven by its attempt to
survive against the Egyptian people’s confrontation. It is as if history wanted the ETUF to collapse
with its hands covered with the blood of the brave young people.
The ETUF has collapsed and there is no way for it to survive again.
The Egyptian workers - who were deprived for long years from their essential democratic rights and
started to form their “Egyptian Federation of Independent Trade Unions” as from Monday 30th
January 2011 emphasize that they will continue all the components of this federation during the next
few weeks. The Egyptian workers call upon the Egyptian society with all its democratic powers,
categories and different spectra to support them and struggle with them to remove all the remaining
legal restrictions which hinder their democratic organization and to develop their independent trade
unions and federations. The Egyptian workers emphasize that authentic independent unions are not
for the same of the workers only. the Egyptian society is in need of organization and the independent
unions will be one of the active tools to pass the point of imbalance which it has reached under the
oppressive regime.
The Egyptian workers suffered a great deal during the past decades from unemployment, low wages
and insecure jobs in companies which investors bought at very low prices. Some amounts were
written in the contracts but the remaining were paid under the table in order to liquidate the
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 production units and exploit the vast areas on which they were constructed. The workers suffered
from the unfair temporary labour contracts which were prevalent all the time in every sector. Labour
disputes remained unsettled. The workers demands could only be expressed through strikes and
protests which became the only method to prepare for negotiations. Such a vacuum can only be filled
by genuine trade unions.
The workers gathered here blame the media and some political parties for describing their demands
as the demands of some “categories”. The Egyptian workers movement is a genuine social movement
deep-rooted in history and interconnected in many points and times with the national and democratic
movements. It is the movement that resisted the particulars of privatization intermixed with
corruption, called without stop for social justice and struggles in defence of its right to independent
trade unions.
Most of the workers movements in our country were unprecedented in our modern history until 2006.
These movements continued to realize certain clear and well defined demands: wage increase, job
security (permanent contracts for temporary workers), and solving the problems of the workers whose
companies were liquidated after privatization. The fact that workers movements appear successively
in one place after another, instead of taking place at a national or a sectoral level, is due to the
absence of an independent trade union organization which can organize these movements and
negotiate on them at the general level.
The Egyptian workers gathered here today emphasize their general demands as follows:

o Fair minimum and maximum wage levels. The difference between the two levels should not
exceed 10 times. The minimum monthly wage level should not be less than EGP 1200 to be
increased pro rata the increase in prices and to restructure the wage levels accordingly. The
annual increment should not be less than 10% in addition to the other allowances such as the
nature of work, risk and the nutritional meal which must be calculated according to the current
prices.
o An appropriate umbrella for health and medical care for all the salaried workers in all the
sectors against all the diseases without a maximum level and regardless to the nature or work,
salary or service period.
o Permanent jobs for the temporary workers of the government, the local administration units
and the public business sector, and consider the temporary contracts of the private sector
workers as permanent contracts from the legal point of view.
o Announce a national plan for employment, combat unemployment and provide the
unemployed with a compensation not less than 75% of the minimum wage level until they are
employed.
o Equal treatment for all the different sectors especially for the workers in local administration
and those in the ministries, and generalize the enforcement of court sentences issued in favor
of some workers to include all the other similar cases without having to file individual
lawsuits, and retrospectively return the amounts of money cut-off from the workers’ salaries
without justification.
o Annul the Social Insurance Law No. 130 for 2009 and reconsider all the other laws which
regulate labour relations and insurance rights in shade of democratic social dialogue.
o Secure an honorable level of pensions and repay the social allowances which were not
calculated for the pensioners amounting to about 22.5% of their pensions.

The Egyptian workers perceive that such demands cannot be realized at once. But they call for democratic
social negotiations thereon until we reach a clear and announced agreement which secures these tights and a
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time frame is made for the implementation of the agreement according to a clear plan to solve the
accumulated problems.
The Egyptian workers are not responsible for the lack of confidence that was created by the unfulfilled
promises and disregard of the workers fair demands. It is a bitter history of governmental and administrative
lies and coercion: labour leaders were dismissed or transferred from the public business sector companies,
massive sanctions in some government sectors, serious lack of equality and bon enforcement of court
sentences.
Workers and government employees sit-in month after month in their work premises without any response.
Workers and employees spend their night after night with their children in winter for long weeks on the
pavement facing the Parliament waiting for a discussion to solve their problems, but in vain.
It is not possible to overcome this crisis of the lack of confidence without real negotiations and clear
agreements with time frames.
The Egyptian workers are calling all the alive powers of the society struggling for democracy: we are with
you. Be with us, Be with our independent trade union organization.
Let us work together to remove the restrictions that deprived us from our right to form our independent trade
unions.
Share with us the action to collapse the rejected “ETUF” so that you can hear the genuine and democratic
voice of the Egyptian workers.