Global Rights Index 2014 - Egypt

Country Rating: 5

• No guarantee of rights

• Countries with the rating of 5 are the worst countries in the world to work in. While the legislation may spell out certain rights, workers have effectively no access to these rights and are therefore exposed to autocratic regimes and unfair labour practices.

Anti-union discrimination: In June 2013, Wael El-Maadawy, the Minister of Civil Aviation ordered the dismissal of 15 workers at Cairo Airport Company that participated in an earlier strike demanding better financial conditions. He accused them of instigation and disrupting work operations.

Qena strikers detained for four days: The detainees were part of a group of workers at Ganoub El Wadi Petroleum Company who have been on strike and camping out in front of the company since February, demanding fulltime contracts.

Strikers' families claim they were taken from their homes in the early morning.

Three of them were released on the 13th of April and the rest were held at the Qena Security Directorate until after midnight. The detainees were accused of resisting the authorities.

Security forces removed the strikers' tents near the petroleum company and forcefully opened the company headquarters on the 14th after remaining closed for almost two months on account of the sit-in.

Workers on strike attacked in a cement factory: On the 3rd of May, more than 350 workers from a cement factory in Aswan, Upper Egypt announced a strike after factory management refused to negotiate the demands put forth by workers. On the 5th of May, the factory's management decided to end the strike by force and the workers were attacked by security personnel from the factory who used live ammunition to intimidate the striking workers.