{"id":16786,"date":"2026-07-04T16:03:01","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T14:03:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/?p=16786"},"modified":"2026-10-24T14:57:53","modified_gmt":"2026-10-24T12:57:53","slug":"government-interventions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/government-interventions\/","title":{"rendered":"Government Intervention Fuels Anger over Egypt\u2019s Trade Union Law"},"content":{"rendered":"

Debate has resurfaced in Egypt over the limits of state intervention in trade union affairs, following legislative amendments affecting the union term of workers’ organisations and its length, in a step that has divided supporters, who see it as a means of strengthening institutional stability and giving union organisations more time to implement their programmes, and opponents, who regard it as an extension of government interference that undermines the independence of unions and the right of workers to choose their representatives periodically and freely. The new controversy comes in the context of a long history of disputes over the Workers’ Trade Union Organisations Law and the extent of its compatibility with the Egyptian Constitution and the International Labour Organization’s conventions on freedom of association.<\/span><\/p>\n

This month, on 10 June, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi ratified <\/span>Law<\/span><\/a> No. 74 of 2026 on the continuation of the current union term of the boards of directors of workers’ trade union organisations. According to the law as published in the Official Gazette, the current workers’ union term of the boards of directors of workers’ trade union organisations elected in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Workers’ Trade Union Organisations and Protection of the Right to Organise, issued by Law No. 213 of 2017, continues for six months, provided that elections for the boards of directors of these organisations for the new union term are called at least sixty days before the end of the period referred to in this article.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the end of April, the Egyptian Cabinet had approved a <\/span>draft <\/span><\/a>law extending the current union term of the boards of directors of workers’ trade union organisations for six months, alongside amending some provisions of the <\/span>Law<\/span><\/a> on Workers’ Trade Union Organisations and Protection of the Right to Organise No. 213 of 2017, in a way that allows the length of the union term in future to go from four to five years.<\/span><\/p>\n

The government said the decision was intended to give union organisations the opportunity to take part in upcoming international and regional events and conferences, including the Arab Labour <\/span>Conference <\/span><\/a>of the “Arab Labour Organization”, scheduled to be held this May, as well as the International Labour <\/span>Conference <\/span><\/a>of the “International Labour Organization” next June, while the Cabinet’s <\/span>statement<\/span><\/a> affirmed that it aims at “providing more avenues of empowerment for boards of directors, achieving their goals and developing the skills of their cadres”.<\/span><\/p>\n

The decision, in both its temporary and permanent parts, opened the door wide to criticism, as labour cadres and organisations concerned with labour affairs who spoke to “Zawia3” considered that the government’s justifications do not appear sufficient to pass what they described as interference in union affairs, seeing this step as part of a wider course of further engineering of the organisational and trade union sphere in Egypt.<\/span><\/p>\n

An intervention that violates international charters<\/b><\/h1>\n

The <\/span>Law<\/span><\/a> on Workers’ Trade Union Organisations and Protection of the Right to Organise No. 213 of 2017 was issued in the context of the Egyptian government’s <\/span>pledges<\/span><\/a> to amend the legislative framework regulating trade union work, after years of local and international criticism of the previous <\/span>law<\/span><\/a>, No. 35 of 1976, which was <\/span>accused<\/span><\/a> of restricting freedom of association and confining workers’ representation within a single union framework. The new law included provisions allowing, for the first time in decades, trade union pluralism and the establishment of independent unions, in response to the International Labour Organization’s observations on freedom of association.<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite the welcome that accompanied the passage of the law at the time as a step towards modernising labour legislation, it faced<\/span> criticism<\/span><\/a> from trade unionists, human rights and labour organisations, as well as parliamentarians, who considered that some of its articles imposed complicated conditions for founding unions and keeping them going, particularly with regard to the required membership numbers and the procedures for legal regularisation, which those parties saw as an obstacle to independent unions and small union entities.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Workers’ Trade Union Organisations Law No. 213 of 2017 underwent subsequent amendments issued in 2019 under <\/span>Law <\/span><\/a>No. 142 of 2019, which included easing some restrictions related to founding union organisations, chief among them reducing the minimum number of workers needed to form a union committee from 150 workers to 50 workers, as well as reducing the number of union committees required to found a general union from 15 committees to 10 committees, while lowering the minimum number of members from 20,000 workers to 15,000.<\/span><\/p>\n

The amendments also included reducing the number of general unions needed to form a union federation from 10 unions to 7 general unions, and lowering the minimum number of workers joining the federation from 200,000 to 150,000 workers, in an attempt to readjust the conditions of union representation and widen the scope for founding unions compared with the previous provisions.<\/span><\/p>\n

These amendments came as a partial response to observations related to the law’s compatibility with the standards of trade union freedom and <\/span>to avoid <\/span><\/a>a return to the blacklist, particularly the issues raised by the International Labour Organization regarding procedural restrictions on founding unions and membership requirements. Despite these amendments, debate continued over whether they were sufficient to address the structural problems in the law.<\/span><\/p>\n

Recently, the government’s decision sparked a new debate about the law. For his part, Karam Abdel Halim, a labour leader and head of the union of workers at the Suez Canal Authority clubs in Ismailia, considers that the draft to extend the current union term and change its length in future represents a “flagrant interference” in union work, and contradicts the principles of trade union freedom and the international conventions ratified by Egypt, chief among them the International Labour Organization’s conventions<\/a> on freedom of association.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Abdel Halim tells “Zawia3” that the essence of union work rests on the right of workers to choose their representatives and to set the regulations governing their unions independently, while the state continues to interfere by setting election dates, the length of union terms and the mechanisms for running workers’ organisations. <\/span><\/p>\n

He adds that the crisis did not stop at the legal texts, but extended to the way the Trade Union Organisations Law No. 213 of 2017 has been applied, pointing out that the Ministry of Manpower “interfered in everything”, as he put it, including disrupting some independent unions and halting their activity.<\/span><\/p>\n

Abdel Halim believes that changing the length of the union term from four to five years is not linked to any real justifications related to developing union work or empowering labour leaders, noting that some union leaders within the Egyptian Trade Union Federation remained for many decades without this being reflected in improving the conditions of workers or developing union performance.<\/span><\/p>\n

He adds that the discussion, if its aim was to amend the law, should have included the controversial articles related to the freedom to found unions, the required membership numbers and the independence of union organisations, instead of focusing on extending the union term.<\/span><\/p>\n

He also considers that the decision reflects the continuation of what he described as the “engineering of union life” in Egypt, through control of the time and organisational framework of union work, which limits the opportunities for rotation and renewal of leaderships, especially within independent unions. He points out that the state does not offer real support to unions that express workers independently, so much as it seeks to maintain a union model subject to administrative control, as he put it.<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition, the labour leader raises questions about the government’s entitlement to intervene in setting or extending the length of the union term, considering that these matters are supposed to be left to the general assemblies and the workers themselves in accordance with their internal regulations, and not through decisions issued by the executive authority, as the government should not play the role of the general assembly, in reference to the granting of additional legitimacy to boards of directors whose electoral term has ended by an administrative or legislative decision.<\/span><\/p>\n

In this context, a number of trade unionists and human rights defenders expressed their rejection of the draft through an appeal addressed to members of the House of Representatives, in which they demanded that the proposed amendments not be passed, considering that they represent a “circumvention of the essence of the right to organise” and an entrenchment of continued administrative interference in union affairs.<\/span><\/p>\n

The<\/span> statement<\/span><\/a>, signed by trade unionists, workers and people concerned with labour affairs, said that the recommendation issued by the Supreme Council for Social Consultation, which the Cabinet approved on 29 April 2026 and which the House of Representatives’ Manpower Committee then approved on 11 May 2026, raises concerns about the future of the independence of union organisations and the right of workers to choose their representatives periodically and freely.<\/span><\/p>\n

The signatories considered that the proposed amendments ignore the fundamental problems associated with the Trade Union Organisations Law No. 213 of 2017, particularly the procedural restrictions and administrative interference facing independent unions, and demanded the opening of a broader societal dialogue on reforming the legislation regulating union work, in a way that guarantees respect for the principles of trade union freedom enshrined in the Egyptian Constitution and the International Labour Organization’s conventions.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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\nGoing beyond the limits of legislation<\/b><\/h1>\n

Labour leader Karam Abdel Halim warns, regarding the recent amendments, that the continuation of this approach could empty union elections of their democratic substance, amid growing fears of a future trend towards entrenching the current leaderships or reducing the chances of holding genuine elections, pointing to the existence of “suspended” or halted independent unions, among them the union of workers at the Suez Canal clubs, which he heads, and those of ambulance and road transport workers and others, and asking about their fate in the absence of a genuine societal dialogue on the proposed amendments.<\/span><\/p>\n

For his part, Kamal Abbas, head of the Center for Trade Union and Workers’ Services, says that the principled position on setting the length of the union term rests on the view that this matter must remain within the competence of the general assembly of each union organisation, as the only body authorised to set the length of the term in accordance with its internal regulations, and not through legislative or governmental intervention that imposes a uniform duration on all organisations.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He explains, speaking to “Zawia3”, that the Trade Union Organisations Law No. 213 of 2017 granted legal personality to union committees, which means that the logic of democratic organisation requires that workers have the right to set the term of their union boards freely, whether two years, three or more, with only a maximum limit set and without imposing a uniform model, considering that unifying the length of the term across all organisations is a direct interference in their independence.<\/span><\/p>\n

Regarding the decision to extend the union term, Abbas questions the justifications offered by the government, considering them “unconvincing”, and that linking the extension to administrative arrangements or the dates of international conferences does not reflect the interest of workers, but rather serves organisational considerations concerning particular union leaders, as he put it.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the same context, Wafaa Ashry, a researcher in social and labour affairs, speaking to “Zawia3”, considers that the decision to extend the union term and postpone the elections represents a direct interference in trade union freedoms, pointing out that the principle in union work is its independence from the executive authority, as a tool for representing workers in improving working conditions and negotiating over basic rights such as wages, leave and occupational safety conditions. She considers that imposing a uniform election date on all unions represents, in her view, a breach of the principle of the independence of union organisations and an overstepping of the role of the general assembly in managing their internal affairs.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

She adds that the continuation of union boards without an actual evaluation of their performance or a genuine response to workers’ demands, as evidenced by the increase in labour protests in recent months, gives structures that achieve no tangible results for workers a chance to survive.<\/span><\/p>\n

The labour researcher criticises what she described as the absence of fairness in organising the electoral process, as a result of unifying the timing of elections between newly founded unions and others that have been stable for years, considering that this unification weakens the chances of emerging unions and limits their ability to build a stable membership base before entering electoral competition, which undermines equal opportunity within the union scene.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wafaa points out that the postponement of the elections is also linked to undeclared political considerations, which she regards as an extension of state interference in managing the union sphere. She also warns that the continuation of this approach could lead to prolonging the life of existing union leaderships without actual renewal, which limits the chances of genuine representation of workers and weakens the dynamism of the trade union movement.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wafaa also notes that independent unions face, according to her, great difficulties on the ground in the procedures for registration and legal recognition, as well as administrative obstacles and procedural delays, which limits their ability to compete, while traditional union organisations linked to the General Federation continue to dominate, which entrenches an imbalance in workers’ representation and weakens actual trade union pluralism, as she described it.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a related context, the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights renewed its categorical rejection of any move towards extending the current union term, considering that this step represents a fundamental infringement of the principle of democratic rotation within union organisations and a squandering of the right of workers to choose their representatives freely and periodically.<\/span><\/p>\n

The centre considered, in a<\/span> statement <\/span><\/a>it issued, that priority should have gone to addressing the legislative and organisational shortcomings revealed by the practical application of the Trade Union Organisations Law, instead of focusing on extending the length of the union term. It pointed out that among the most prominent problems requiring legislative reform is establishing a clear and effective legal regulation of the procedures for grievances and electoral appeals, ensuring the existence of a real and effective judicial path to adjudicate disputes related to the electoral process.<\/span><\/p>\n

The centre also demanded that the original judicial jurisdiction over monitoring union elections and adjudicating appeals be returned to the courts of the State Council, as the judicial body competent in disputes over elections and administrative decisions, criticising the transfer of this jurisdiction to the labour courts, which it considered to have weakened the effectiveness of judicial oversight, particularly in the absence of provisions regulating the timetable of elections in a way that takes into account the deadlines for appeals and their adjudication.<\/span><\/p>\n

The centre further stressed the need for the law to include explicit provisions guaranteeing the prevention of any administrative interference, direct or indirect, in candidacy procedures or in the conduct of the electoral process, so as to ensure the integrity of the elections and equal opportunities among candidates, and to strengthen the independence of union organisations from any external influence.<\/span><\/p>\n

Financial burdens with no real return<\/b><\/h1>\n

Regarding the participation of Egyptian union delegations in the meetings of the International Labour Organization, on the basis of which the Prime Minister’s office extended the current union term by 6 months, the head of the Center for Trade Union and Workers’ Services, Kamal Abbas, considers that participation in itself is not reflected in improving workers’ conditions or in pushing towards actual commitment to international conventions, chief among them Conventions 87 and 98 on trade union freedom and the right to organise.<\/span><\/p>\n

He points out that these participations, in some cases, turn into “financial burdens with no real return”, as he described them, questioning the extent of the actual benefit of these conferences compared with the costs and allowances borne by the unions, and whether they translate into positions supporting workers’ rights inside Egypt.<\/span><\/p>\n

Abbas recalls the background to the issuing of Law 213 of 2017, considering that it came under pressures linked to the International Labour Organization’s observations and decent work programmes, as well as economic effects on some sectors, which led to the introduction of legislative amendments without a radical shift in the philosophy of trade union freedoms. He points out that the restrictions related to founding unions, especially regarding the numbers required to establish general unions and federations, still constitute an obstacle to the emergence of genuine independent unions, given the continued dominance of a single union model, in reference to the ” Egyptian Workers’ Federation”.<\/span><\/p>\n

Abbas also criticises what he described as bureaucracy in the procedures for registering unions, and says that the Ministry of Manpower’s intervention in registration and approval procedures contradicts the principle of freedom of association, proposing that registration take place through a judicial body or by notification, without administrative guardianship.<\/span><\/p>\n

He stresses that the crisis lies not in the texts alone but in application and practice, considering that continued interference in union affairs empties trade union freedoms of their substance and undermines the chances of building independent workers’ organisations that genuinely express the interests of workers.<\/span><\/p>\n

The International Labour Organization’s conventions, chief among them <\/span>Convention N<\/span><\/a>o. 87 on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise and <\/span>Convention<\/span><\/a> No. 98 on the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining, enshrine that workers have the right to establish organisations of their own free choice without interference from the public authorities, while guaranteeing the independence of these organisations in managing their internal affairs, including drawing up their regulations, electing their representatives and setting their work programmes. These standards also affirm that any restrictions imposed on the establishment or work of unions must be necessary and proportionate and must not empty the right of its practical substance.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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\nA greater chance of stability despite the criticism<\/b><\/h1>\n

For his part, Magdy El-Badawy, vice-president of the Egyptian Trade Union Federation, defends the draft to extend the current union term and change its length to five years, considering that the matter came through an institutional path via the Social Consultation <\/span>Council<\/span><\/a>, which includes representatives of the government, employers and union organisations, and is chaired by the Minister of Labour.<\/span><\/p>\n

El-Badawy tells “Zawia3” that the recommendation on extending the length of the union term was discussed within the council and ended in a consensus among workers’ representatives that the union term should become five years instead of four, explaining that the aim of the amendment is to give union organisations a longer time to work and to implement their programmes more effectively. <\/span><\/p>\n

He adds that the philosophy of the extension is consistent with the terms of other elected institutions such as the House of Representatives and the Senate, pointing out that some union organisations in other countries also adopt a term lasting five years.<\/span><\/p>\n

El-Badawy explains that the five-year amendment will not be applied to the current term, but will start with the next term, so that voters enter the next elections aware of the length of the new term. As for the decision on the temporary extension of six months, he believes that it is linked to organisational considerations relating to the union elections coinciding with a number of events, including the Arab Labour Conference and the International Labour Conference of the International Labour Organization, as well as the Labour Day celebrations, which require extensive arrangements with official attendance.<\/span><\/p>\n

Responding to the criticism directed at the amendments, El-Badawy says that the basic criterion for him is the existence of union representation elected by workers, considering that any organisation or person that did not come through elections cannot be regarded as genuinely expressing the workers. He continues that the General Federation respects any union elected by its worker base, whether under its umbrella or outside it, but rejects granting representative status to entities that do not rest on a clear electoral base, as he put it.<\/span><\/p>\n

The vice-president of the Egyptian Workers’ Federation also considers that the criticism of the extension decision is exaggerated, and that the additional six months will not make a fundamental difference, while the five-year term will give union organisations a greater chance to work and achieve stability, and that workers in the next term will choose their representatives in democratic elections on the basis of their prior knowledge of the length of the new term, which he sees as sufficient to ensure the clarity of the rules governing the electoral process.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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\nFears of ” banning, striking off and exclusion” in the union elections <\/b><\/h1>\n

The workers’ union elections for the 2022\u20132026 term sparked wide <\/span>controversy<\/span><\/a> over their compatibility with trade union freedoms. According to what the Center for Trade Union and Workers’ Services<\/span> documented<\/span><\/a> in its final report, the workers’ union elections ran contrary to expectations, they were not genuine elections, and the government agencies want nothing more than formal decorations devoid of vitality and substance, which stripped the electoral process of its integrity.<\/span><\/p>\n

The report pointed out that the union elections did not, in the view of a section of independent trade unionists, fulfil the labour movement’s aspirations towards broadening democratic participation and renewing union leaderships, but rather reproduced earlier problems linked to weak trade union pluralism and the continued dominance of particular organisations over the union scene. The Center for Trade Union and Workers’ Services concluded that the current legislative framework, despite the legal recognition of independent union organisations it contains, still imposes procedural and organisational restrictions that limit the effectiveness of this recognition on the ground.<\/span><\/p>\n

In this framework, labour leader Karam Abdel Halim points to what he described as the interference seen in the recent union elections since 2018, speaking of cases of “banning, striking off and exclusion” of independent candidates and trade unionists, as well as the obstruction of general assembly procedures, considering that this confirms the absence of trade union freedoms on the ground despite the legal texts and international conventions that the state officially affirms.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kamal Abbas, head of the Center for Trade Union and Workers’ Services, also criticises what he described as “administrative interference in the union electoral process”, pointing out that elections in previous terms witnessed, as he put it, multiple patterns of interference that affected the integrity of the electoral process and weakened the chances of free competition within union organisations, which raises his concerns about the upcoming union elections.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Egyptian <\/span>Constitution<\/span><\/a> guarantees the right to organise and the independence of workers’ and professional unions, as Article 76 affirms that “establishing unions and federations on a democratic basis is a right guaranteed by law. They shall have legal personality, shall practise their activities freely, and shall contribute to raising the level of competence among their members, defending their rights and protecting their interests”. The same article also stresses that the state guarantees the independence of unions and federations, and that their boards of directors may not be dissolved except by a court ruling. <\/span><\/p>\n

Article 77 likewise stipulates that “the law regulates the establishment and management of professional syndicates on a democratic basis, and guarantees their independence”, which reinforces the principle of self-management of union organisations away from interference by the executive authority. In addition, there is Article 93 of the Constitution, which obliges the state to abide by the international human rights agreements, covenants and conventions ratified by Egypt and gives them the force of law, which includes the International Labour Organization’s conventions on freedom of association and the right of workers to choose their representatives freely.<\/span><\/p>\n

Amid this controversy, the recent amendments on extending the union term appear to be a continuation of a long path of struggle over the independence of the labour movement in Egypt, between a government vision that considers that reorganising union dates and terms achieves a greater degree of stability and effectiveness, and union and human rights voices that see the main problem as having less to do with the number of years in the union term than with guaranteeing freedom of association and genuine competition and lifting administrative interference by the government.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Law No. 74 of 2026 extends the current union term by six months and permanently raises the length of future terms from four years to five, while a report by the Center for Trade Union and Workers’ Services described the 2022-2026 elections as not genuine and documented cases of banning, striking off and exclusion of independent candidates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":15826,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[412],"tags":[],"kateb":[728],"class_list":["post-16786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics-en","kateb-shimaa-hamdy"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/\u0646\u0642\u0627\u0628\u0627\u062a.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16786"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16786\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23949,"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16786\/revisions\/23949"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16786"},{"taxonomy":"kateb","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/kateb?post=16786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}