Members of parliament in the committees of labour and human rights rejected on Tuesday the continuation of recent worker strikes that aim to put pressure on the government to amend the Civil Service Law.
The MPs demanded that controversial articles in the law be amended in order to put an end to the strikes and to find solutions that would meet workers’ demands.
MP Khaled Abdel Aziz, a member of the Labour Committee, commented on the worker strikes by saying that protesting is a right of the people, but ”workers should stop since parliament is currently discussing the new bill”.
He added that the parliament will finish discussing the new bill within the coming days, and then it will be referred to the general session within two weeks.
MP Mohamed Ismail said that strike calls are against the country’s interests and will hinder its work, adding that parliament previously discussed the workers’ self-drafted law and rejected it.
Wael Tawfik, the media coordinator at Tadamon, a group of 36 anti-civil service law syndicates and independent unions, told Daily News Egypt that the coalition will escalate in coordination with all those affected by the Civil Service Law. This would be in protest against the exclusion of their bill from parliament discussions or the lack of consideration of workers’ demands to amend certain articles.
Parliament began discussing the Civil Service Law on Monday. Tawfik said some MPs among the members discussing the law are supporting workers’ demands and will attempt to discuss their recommendations.
The Civil Service Law draft suggested by workers was initially rejected in February for a number of reasons, including its unconstitutionality. Its first article lists exceptions for certain government authorities from implementing the law. It was resubmitted to parliament later in February, following amendments made by the ministries of finance and planning to prohibit financial bonuses.
The government’s draft law, which overhauls the system of salaries, bonuses, and promotions across state institutions and authorities, was the only one out of more than 300 laws to be rejected by parliament in February.
The rejection of the law prompted immediate criticism from President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi as the government strongly advocated for the law as an integral part of the government’s reformation plan.