The Independent Union for Workers in the Transport Authority is planning a protest Friday demanding the passing of the Union Liberties Law.
Tarek Al-Beheiry, the vice chairman of the union and its spokesperson, said the law would give his union complete freedom to negotiate and workers the right to choose their representative.
Last November, President Mohamed Morsy made amendment to the union law, which was opposed by many unionists and workers. The current law does not acknowledge independent unions, which is why many workers are pushing for the Union Liberties Law.
Al-Beheriy said the protest would call for union freedoms and would oppose union dominance by the Muslim Brotherhood. He claimed the Brotherhood opposes the law because they do not want more than one union in the same place. “They are saying that having more than one union will lead to conflicts… on the contrary, it will lead to honest competition,” he said.
The union held a short protest Wednesday outside a hospital that operates under the Public Transport Authority. “It was an hour of mourning,” Al-Beheiry said. The protest was in objection to the return of Mostafa Erfan to the hospital. Erfan was suspended pending
the completion of investigations into the death of Yasser Hosni, a Public Transport Authority driver. It is alleged that Hosni died after being refused treatment at the hospital.
Al-Beheriy described Erfan’s return before the completion of investigations as manipulative. He added that another protest is being planned in coordination with doctors from inside the hospital.
He said the location of Friday’s protest is yet to be decided. It will most likely be in Tala’at Harb Square in Downtown Cairo although holding it on the steps of the Press Syndicate is also an option.
