Workers’ unions have announced their full support of the recently finalised draft constitution.
They also support President Mohamed Morsy’s constitutional declaration and his decision to put the constitution to a national referendum on 15 December.
“We are here to support the Constituent Assembly for producing the best constitution drafted throughout Egypt’s history since [Pasha and Viceroy of Egypt] Mohamed Ali’s era,” Mohamed Seif, head of the Veterinary Union, said in a press conference organised on Monday afternoon by the workers’ unions in the Agricultural Club. Seif assured those who drafted the constitution as well as Morsy that people are never in agreement, implying that the opposition the draft constitution is currently facing doesn’t undermine its quality.
“Those who disapprove of the constitution want the country to remain in a state of disorder,” Seif said, adding that such people can only “hunt in turbid waters.”
“For the first time in history, we have a constitution that prohibits the dissolution of workers’ unions,” Maged Khaloosi, the head of the Engineering Union, said. Khaloosi recalled the era of the 1970s and 1980s, when state security threatened workers’ unions with dissolution, based on a verdict from the Supreme Constitutional Court deeming them unconstitutional.
Khaloosi also praised other articles of the draft constitution, stating that it gives workers unprecedented rights. He specifically referred to the article guaranteeing workers’ rights to receive a pension.
The head of the Pharmacists’ Union, Mohamed Abdel Gawad, was also among the speakers. He criticised the withdrawal of church representatives from the Constituent Assembly before its finalisation of the constitution.
“There isn’t a single request that the church representatives made in the assembly which wasn’t met with approval,” Abdel Gawad said. He added that during the last session they attended before their withdrawal, the church representatives had praised the constitution.
The press conference started with a Quranic recital before the speakers took the floor. It was attended by representatives from the nurses, doctors, agricultural, lawyers, teachers, physiotherapists and science unions.
Most professions have both workers’ unions and independent unions. The workers’ unions are dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood.
