Cairo’s urgent affairs court decided on Monday to impose judicial guardianship on the Trade Union and to dismiss the union’s administrative council, according to state-run Akhbar Al -Youm.
The court’s decision came after a lawsuit was submitted by a member of the Trade Union’s general assembly. The lawsuit argued that the union is violating the Constitution and the law by neglecting the development of its members’ scientific and professional interests, and sustaining the dignity of their profession.
The lawsuit was based on a report issued by the Central Auditing Organisation (CAO) that proved many violations committed by the Trade Union’s administrative council, including wasting public capital, Akhbar Al-Youm reported.
In tune with the chorus of political reform following the 2011 uprising, many independent unions were formed to exercise their rights over their own decisions and choose their own leaders. However, the Interior Ministry and cabinet have since dismissed interactions with existing unions, discredited their validity, and after September 2015, denied registration to any new unions.
Moreover, on 1 March, the Interior Ministry stated that it will stop accepting documents stamped by independent unions—a decision that Kamal Abbas, head of the Centre for Trade Union and Workers Services, has deemed unconstitutional. Prohibiting paperwork from trade unions compels workers to join state unions instead, as a necessary feat to receive government documents.
