Egyptian Labor-Support Organization Banned After Strike Actions

CAIRO- The more than 200 strikes are over. Tens of thousands of workers are back on their jobs, after winning several small but important victories in the most widespread labor unrest in Egypt in decades. But the Center for Trade Union & Workers Services (CTUWS) is out of business, its four offices closed and its activities banned in retaliation by the Egyptian government for the role it allegedly played in sparking the workers' protest movements and strikes.

Kamal Abbas doesn’t flinch when asked about the right to strike, as it relates to freedom of association, which is protected under International Labor Organization (ILO) Core Conventions 87 and 98. "We did not call for the strikes, but we have programs and trainings on workers' rights, and they have the right to strike."

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