Morsi Discusses Labour Laws, Social Justice With Trade Union Leaders

Egypt’s President Mohamed Morsi met leaders of the General Federation of Trade Unions and various individual unions at the presidential palace Wednesday morning.

Changes to labour laws and ways of achieving social justice were discussed at the meeting.

The meeting comes amid mass worker protests that have rocked the country since Morsi was inaugurated on 30 June.

In late June, Ceramica Cleopatra workers began a 28-day strike to demand salary increases, bonus payments and a share of company profits.

Textile workers at state-owned Mahalla Misr Spinning and Weaving Company also held an eight-day strike, starting on 15 July, to demand an increase in profit sharing and fixed raises, as well as healthcare reform procedures at the company’s hospital. The strike was suspended after a meeting with Morsi’s legal advisor.

Strikes by Mahalla’s textile workers in 2006 and 2008 are widely seen as having partially set the stage for last year’s Tahrir Square uprising, which culminated in the ouster of Egypt’s longstanding president Hosni Mubarak.

Ahram