Definition of Center for Trade Unions & Workers Services (CTUWS)

The Center for Trade Unions and Workers Services (CTUWS) is an Egyptian non-governmental organization established in March 1990 by some labor leaders and activists guided by their experience in the Egyptian labor movement. They vowed to meet the urgent need to form an independent organization that advances and supports the needs of workers in a democratic manner, provide direct support and services to the workers and fill the void created by the “official” trade union organization which failed to achieve its fundamental obligations.

CTUWS’ Goals:

Since its foundation, CTUWS has worked to achieve the following mission:

Assist and develop the labor movement by strengthening and increasing its capabilities.
Support the workers democratic demands and act to safeguard their rights particularly the right to strike and to establish independent trade unions.
Call for putting into effect the basic labor standards and improving the existing work conditions.
Help improve the workers skills and capacities.
Contribute to developing democratic practices in the society.
Work for developing the labor movement in new sectors (i.e. the private sector in new industrial cities, the service sector and the informal sector).
Advocate the involvement of women in society, especially in the labor and trade union movements.
Defend the socially marginalized groups and act for their empowerment.
Develop a working programme to combat child labor.
Build bridges between workers and trade union movements at the international level and develop cooperation and joint action.

Activities:

CTUWS aims to achieve its goals through a number of programs:

First: Work campaigns and litigation program:

Through this program CTUWS aims to establish basic labor standards, improve working conditions, and support the workers in their struggle to attain their rights and realize their objectives.

1-Campaigns

The most significant recent campaigns:

Labor Law campaign
This campaign monitored steps in the preparation and issuance of the law over a nine-year period. CTUWS followed up the successive legislative steps through detailed studies and an in-depth critique of its provisions and suggested alternative provisions. Throughout the few months that preceded the issuance of the law, CTUWS cooperated with political parties and civil society organizations to develop a large network to manage the campaign and hold conferences and meetings with members and the Speaker of the People’s Assembly (the Parliament) . The campaign succeeded to introduce amendments to some clauses in the law (and it was impossible to amend some other clauses).

Annual Salary Increase campaign
This campaign followed the issuance of the Labor Law in April 2003 and called for enforcing provision of the Annual Salary Increase Law (by seven percent as a minimum). The campaign succeeded to realize its goal.

Campaigns for Supporting Workers’ Movements
CTUWS carries out campaigns to support labor movements in various sectors. These campaigns strengthen the movements and defend them in the face of any pressures or violations in addition to widening their chances for success. Among the most significant of these campaigns over the past three years were: The Campaign for Supporting Asbestos Workers, the Samuli Textile and Weaving Workers Campaign, the Qalyub Weaving Workers Campaign, the Tura Cement Workers Campaign, the Helwan Cement Workers Campaign, and the Nubaria For Agricultural Products Workers Campaign.

The Trade Unions Law Campaign
CTUWS is currently carrying out a campaign to abolish the Trade Unions Law No. of 1976 or amend its clauses so as to enable the workers exercise their right to establish independent trade unions.

2- Observation and Monitoring

Monitoring includes looking at different aspects and types of violations of the basic labor standards and issuing reports thereof.

3- Building Bridges at the National Level with Labor and Social Movements

This is done through the following:

Participation in activities organized by these movements.
Expressing the independent Egyptian labor movement at the international level.
Coordinating with various trade unions to develop worker solidarity.
Participating in campaigns organized by international trade union or social movements in defense of the workers’ economic and social rights, or for of fair trade and a more just international economy.

4- Participation in Various Activities to Develop a Democratic Society

Throughout 2005 CTUWS participated in the development of a civil society alliance to monitor both the presidential and parliamentary elections.

5- The “Workers Speech” magazine

The “Workers Speech” magazine is published every two weeks by CTUWS and is considered the only independent labor magazine in Egypt. The magazine is specialized in covering workers conditions through articles and investigative reports. It follows up the workers developments in the various regions together with the campaigns organized by CTUWS. About 3,000 copies are distributed from each issue.

Second: The Support, Assistance and Development Program of Societal Participation

This program undertakes the following activities:

Providing legal assistance which includes:
Provide direct daily legal advice related to the rights of workers and the trade union rights.
Provide rapid legal services to help workers who resort to employment offices (which belong to the Ministry of Manpower and Emigration), the Social Insurance Offices and the Health Insurance Offices.
Assist workers who need to raise complaints to the concerned parties or forward reports to the General Prosecutor Office when workers are not allowed to enter their work places, denied their wages, or faced with defamation and violence.
Help workers who sustain labor injuries take the necessary steps to register and prove their injuries in order to obtain the suitable care and compensation.
Represent workers in lawsuits before the court and file cases on behalf of individuals or groups of workers (most of such cases are related to arbitrary dismissal, working conditions particularly long working hours and forced vacations, insurance rights, and compensation from work injuries).

Raising Workers’ Awareness:
Organize conferences, seminars and workshops on labor and workers’ issues.
Publish simple pamphlets and explanations of labor laws and workers’ rights.

Developing local communities where CTUWS is located to motivate and enhance community involvement through:
Present certain services directly to workers and citizens in these areas.
Defend economic and social rights in these communities.

Third: Program for Developing Workers’ Skills (Vocational School):

The objectives of this program can be summarized as increasing workers’ knowledge/skills, and giving them the necessary guidance to develop their roles and abilities by establishing the following:

Develop the workers’ capacities and their ability to recognize their economic and social rights, to express them and develop the necessary tools to defend them.
Clarify and support the correct concepts of trade unions and their role as independent organizations which represent the workers and help them defend their rights.
Develop the workers abilities and skills to raise the awareness of other workers and to encourage them to defend their rights.
Develop the skills and abilities of workers to use different methods to defend their economic and social rights by working as pressure groups or a group negotiating team.
Encourage the workers participation and raising their awareness of a unified labor movement in creating a more equitable society.
The vocational curriculum of the school was developed to encourage and inspire creative and independent thought, develop the workers activities and support their feeling of independence. This helps them gain the ability of critical and analytical thought through reading the experiences of their colleagues and benefiting from them. This enables them to understand labor relations, define their features and establish the suitable action programs.

The school adopts the problem solution techniques and interactive learning methods in all the training progeams.

CTUWS Structure

The General Activities Council
The Council comprises nine members elected by activists from CTUWS’ different branches.
It discusses and adopts the work strategies.
Supervises the implementation of the work plans instituted by CTUWS activists from different branches.

Branches
Over time, CTUWS managed to establish four branches in the most important working gathering areas:

Helwan: This is the number one industrial area in Cairo. It has a large number of factories, the most important of which are Iron and Steel, the National Cement Company, Tura Cement Company, Helwan Cement Company, the Nasr Automobile Company, the Nasr Pipe Factory, the Coke Plant, and numerous military equipment factories.
Mehalla Al-Kubra: This is the most important spinning and textile area in Egypt. It includes the state-owned Mehalla Spinning and Weaving Company as well as over 150 private spinning and weaving factories.
10th of Ramadan: This is a new industrial area that contains over 500 private factories which produce a variety of products.
Nag’a Hamaadi: This is an important industrial area situated in Southern Egypt which has an aluminum factory, sugar factory and numerous other smaller factories.
CTUWS applies its programs in all of its branches.
A Council of Activities plans and manages the daily activities of the branch.