More of Egypt’s officials protest against civil service law
More government workers have taken to the streets of Egypt to protest against a new civil service law, which they say is incompatible with the country’s constitution.
The new law was passed by Egypt’s president Abdel Fatah al-Sisi in March shortly before Egypt’s International Economic Conference, which aimed to draw foreign investment, and already attracted a mass protest by more than 2,000 civil servants on 10 August.
The law sets out a new system for salaries, incentives and compensations, centralises the recruitment process and will, according to the government, curb bureaucratic inefficiencies, streamline hiring practices and complex wage-structures in government institutions.
But civil servants say it weakens workers’ rights and on Saturday, Labour unions and movements protested in Fustat Park, south Cairo, against the new civil service law, calling on authorities to immediately halt the legislation until a new parliament is elected in December, according to Ahram Online.
Critics also say the law should have been consulted on, given its wide scope.
Hussein Ibrahim told Ahram that the law is “unjust and incompatible with the Egyptian constitution” and “unfair towards labour rights.”
Mabrouk Abfel Moneim, another protester, said the new law will mean civil servants will work “without any rights.”
And a woman, who was also among the protesters, said she condemned “everyone who participated in the drafting [of] such a law without any social dialogue.”
Former Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb met with some of the protesters in late August and told them that the new law would not cause any “work termination or reduction of salaries.”
He said a committee of experts would study the protesters’ suggestions and that extensive discussions with stakeholders would be held before a new civil service code of conduct is drafted.
See also – news:
Egyptian Officials Protest Over New Civil Service Law
Egypt’s Prime Minister Meets Civil Servants After Mass Protest
About Winnie Agbonlahor
Winnie is news editor of Global Government Forum. She previously reported for Civil Service World - the trade magazine for senior UK government officials. Originally from Germany, Winnie first came to the UK in 2006 to study a BA in Journalism & Russian at the University of Sheffield. She is bilingual in English and German, and, after spending an academic year abroad in Russia and reporting for the Moscow Times, Winnie also speaks Russian fluently.
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