Strengthening Labour Relations and their Institutions in Egypt (Phase II)

Executive summary In December 2017, the Government of Egypt passed a new law regulating trade unions (the Trade Union Law no. 213 of 2017) as a result of discussions with the ILO and employer and worker organisations. These discussions were triggered by the fact that The Walt Disney Company had announced to remove Egypt from its list of permitted sourcing countries. The only way for Egypt to remain on the list would be to have a Better Work country programme in Egypt and have Disney suppliers in Egypt enrol in this programme. Better Work therefore ran a pilot programme in Egypt from mid-2017 to March 2019. The above-mentioned new law was scrutinized by national stakeholders and the ILO Committee of Experts (CEACR) and found lacking in comparison with Convention 87. The Egyptian government continued to engage with the ILO Committee of Experts on a continuous basis, receiving comments and acting on these in 2018 and 2019. The Trade Union Law was then amended again in 2019 (by law no. 142 of 2019), for instance by lowering the level of minimum membership required at the enterprise level, as well as for those forming general unions and confederations. Articles that penalize workers with imprisonment for certain activities have been replaced to provide for fines. When reviewing the case again in November 2019, the Committee of Experts noted several positive developments in the Trade Union Law, but, in addition to continued reporting on specific aspects of implementation, requested further measures to be taken in a few areas. In addition, the ILO and the tripartite partners in Egypt agreed on this technical assistance programme to further accompany the process of adjusting relevant laws as needed and assisting in their implementation with the “firm expectation that this programme will create the space for full freedom of association in Egypt to the benefit of all parties” . This technical assistance programme consists of three components: 1. Freedom of association and collective bargaining rights are promoted and effectively implemented in laws and practices. 2. An enabling environment for sound labour relations is put in place. 3. A full-fledged Better Work programme.

Project symbol

EGY/22/50/MUL

Admin unit

DWT/CO-Cairo

Start date

08/12/2021

End date

30/12/2025

Total allocation

2126288

Total expenditure

Status

Active

1310308

Development Partners

Multi-donor support for Better Work

Country/Countries

Egypt

Outcomes

Outcome 1: Strong, modernized normative action for social justice