Globalization, Structural Adjustment, and Pressure to Conform

Contesting Labor Law Reform in Egypt

Datos Bibliográficos

ID7339166
AutoresAgnieszka Paczynska (George Mason University, autor de correspondencia)
Año2006
Volumen28
Número1
Páginas45-64
Fecha de publicación2006-03-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaNew Political Science (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0739-3148 • E-ISSN: 1469-9931
EditorialRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/07393140500518208
OpenAlexW2001911487
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas6

This article examines the decade-long contentious encounter between the Egyptian regime and Egyptian organized labor over changes in the labor law. I examine why an authoritarian regime which was often willing to deploy violence against its opponents encountered such difficulties in pushing through one of the central components of Egypt's structural adjustment program. I argue that Egyptian organized labor was able to influence the process of economic restructuring in general and reform of the labor code in particular because in the decades prior to the initiation of reforms in the 1990s, unions were able to acquire important resources. These resources included legal prerogatives, a degree of financial autonomy from the state as well as experience gained from previous contentious encounters with the state. These resources in turn allowed them to shape policy debates once the structural adjustment program commenced. Notes Research for this article was made possible by funding from the Social Science Research Council and the American Council of Learned Societies. I would like to thank Marsha Pripstein Posusney, Robert Vitalis, Terrence Lyons, participants in the DC-Area Workshop on Contentious Politics as well as two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on earlier versions of this article. See for example, The World Bank, Unlocking the Employment Potential in the Middle East and North Africa: Toward a New Social Contract (Washington, DC: The World Bank, 2004). In other words, institutions once established are difficult to change. See, for example, Geoffrey Garrett and Peter Lange, "Internationalization, Institutions, and Political Change," International Organization 49:4 (1995), pp. 627–655. Maria Lorena Cook, "Labor Reform and Dual Transitions in Brazil and the Southern Cone," Latin American Politics and Society 44:1 (2002), p. 1. Raul Madrid, "Labouring Against Neoliberalism: Unions and Patterns of Reform in Latin America," Journal of Latin American Studies 35 (2003), pp. 53–88. During the 1990s Islamist activism in Egypt intensified. Consequently, there were a number of violent confrontations between the Egyptian regime and Islamists. As these clashes became more bloody the regime resorted to increasingly repressive tactics in its fight with Islamist groups. For further discussion of this subject, see, for example, Eberhard Kienle, The Grand Delusion: Democracy and Economic Reform in Egypt (London: I. B. Tauris Publishers, 2001). Asef Bayat, "Activism and Social Development in the Middle East," International Journal of Middle East Studies 32 (2002), p. 6. Marsha Pripstein Posusney, Labor and the State in Egypt (New York: Columbia University Press, 1997), p. 10. Bayat, "Social Activism," p. 6. Jay Mazur, "Labor's New Internationalism," Foreign Affairs (January/February 2000). See, for example, Alan Tonelson. Race to the Bottom (Boulder: Westview Press, 2000). See, for example, Michael Shalev, "The Resurgence of Labor Quiescence," in Marino Regini (ed.), The Future of Labour Movements (London: Sage, 1992); Aristide Zoldberg, "Response: Working-Class Dissolution," International Labour and Working Class History 47 (1995); Manuel Castells. The Information Age, Vol. 2: The Power of Identity (Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1997); James A. Piazza, "Globalizing Quiescence: Globalization, Union Density and Strikes in 15 Industrial Countries" Economic and Industrial Democracy 26:2 (2005). Evelyne Huber, Dietrich Rueschemeyer, and John D. Stephens, "The Paradoxes of Contemporary Democracy: Formal, Participatory, and Social Dimensions," in Lisa Anderson (ed.), Transitions to Democracy (New York: Columbia University Press, 1999), p. 195. Christopher Candland and Rudra Sil (eds), The Politics of Labor in a Global Age: Continuity and Change in Late-Industrializing and Post-Socialist Economies (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001). Maria Victoria Murillo, "From Populism to Neoliberalism: Labor Unions and Market Reforms in Latin America," World Politics 52:1 (2000), p. 137; Murillo, Labor Unions, Partisan Coalitions, and Market Reforms. Stephen Levitsky and Lucan Way, "Between a Shock and a Hard Place: The Dynamics of Labor-Backed Adjustment in Poland and Argentina," Comparative Politics 30:2 (1998), pp. 171–192. Katrina Burgess, Parties and Unions in the New Global Economy (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2004). Eva Bellin, Stalled Democracy: Capital, Labor, and the Paradox of State-Sponsored Development (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2002). Christopher Alexander, "The Architecture of Militancy: Workers and the State in Algeria, 1970–1990," Comparative Politics 34:3 (2002). For example, the specter of the January 1977 riots that erupted in Egypt following President Sadat's removal of consumer subsidies continues to haunt Egyptian policy-makers. Author interview with World Bank official, Cairo, September 1998. Assaf Bayat, "Populism, Liberalization, and Popular Participation: Industrial Democracy in Egypt," Economic and Industrial Democracy 14 (1993). John Waterbury, The Egypt of Nasser and Sadat: The Political Economy of Two Regimes (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1983), pp. 321–323; Joel Gordon, Nasser's Blessed Movement: Egypt's Free Officers and the July Revolution (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992), pp. 39–59. Robert Bianchi, "The Corporatization of the Egyptian Labor Movement," The Middle East Journal 40:3 (1986), p. 432. Alfred Stepan, The State and Society: Peru in Comparative Perspective (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1978), pp. 301–316. Muhammad Khalid, Al-haraka al-niquabiya bayn al-madi wa al-mustaqbal (Cairo: Institute of Cooperative House for Printing and Publishing, 1975), pp. 88–91. Mustafa Kamel al-Sayyid, Mujtama'a siyasiya, p. 83. Huwaida 'Adli, Al-'ummal wa al'siyasa: ad-dawar al-siyasiy li-l-haraka al-'umaliya fi misr min 1952–1981 (Cairo: Ahali Books, no. 45, 1993), p. 169. Pripstein, Labor and the State, pp. 109–111. Huwaida 'Adli, Al-'ummal wa al-siyasa, p. 172. Robert Bianchi, Unruly Corporatism: Associational Life in Twentieth Century Egypt (New York: Oxford University Press, 1989) p. 49. Author Interview with USAID labor consultant, Cairo, 1998. See for example, Mahmoud Hussein, Class Conflict in Egypt, 1945–1970 (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1973); al-Sayyid, Al-mujtama' wa al-siyasa; Joel Beinin, "Will the Real Egyptian Working Class Please Stand Up," in Zachary Lockman (ed.), Workers and Working Classes in the Middle East: Struggles, Histories, and Historiographies (Albany: University of New York Press, 1994); Hassan Badawi, "Al-taharukat al-jama'iya li-l-'ummal, 1988–1991," in M. Abbas et al. (eds), Al-haraka al-'ummaliya fi m'arakat al-tuhawwul (Cairo: Arab Research Center, 1994); Posusney, Labor and the State. Author interview with World Bank official, Cairo, September 1998. Muhammad Khalid, Al-haraka al-niqabiya bayn al-madi wa al-mustaqbal (Cairo: Institute of Cooperative House for Printing and Publishing, 1975), pp. 88–91. For a discussion of other aspects of the economic reform program, see for example Mona Qasim, Islah al-iqtisadiy fi Misr: dur al-bunuk fi khaskhasa wa aham al-taqarib al-dawla (Qahira: Maktabat al-Usra, 1998); and various issues of Awraq al-Iqtisadiya published by Markaz al-Buhuth wa al-Dirasat al-Iqtisadiya wa Maliya. For a discussion of privatization attempts during this period, see Posusney, Labor and the State; al-Sayyid, Al-mujtama' wa al-siyasa. Al-Ahram al-Iqtisadiy, August 21, 1989. Nader Fergany, "Impact of the Proposed Labor Law on Labor Market Flexibility and Social Conditions in Egypt: A Preliminary Assessment," unpublished manuscript, Cairo, 1998. Jackline Wahba, "Labour Mobility in Egypt: Are the 90s Any Different from the 80s?," Egypt Labor Market Project (Cairo: Economic Research Forum for the Arab Countries, Iran, and Turkey, 2000). Ragui Assaad, "The Transformation of the Egyptian labor Market: 1988–1998," Egypt Labor Market Project (Cairo: Economic Research Forum for the Arab Countries, Iran, and Turkey, 2000). Jackline Wahba and May Moktar, "Informalisation of Labor in Egypt," January 2000, available online at: . Samir Radwan, "Employment and Unemployment in Egypt: conventional Problems, Unconventional Remedies," Working Paper no. 70 (Cairo: The Egyptian Center for Economic Studies, August 2002). Business Monthly (February 2002). Author interviews with Public Enterprise Office and World Bank officials, Cairo, 1998. Protest actions and wildcat strikes increased during the 1990s. The trend continued during the following decade. Author interview with USAID consultant, Cairo, 1998. Al-Ahram al-Iqtisadiy, July 29, 1990. Al-Ahali, November 13, 1991, November 27, 1991. Rose al-Youssef, April 15, 1991. Al-Ahram, October 23, 1997. It is important to note that although the program was voluntary, over time there were numerous reports that workers were being forced to take the early retirement package in some companies. While the old labor law prohibited strikes, this did not prevent workers from staging them. Although the government often responded to these actions by sending in security forces to quell the protests, generally only individual strike leaders faced arrest. Furthermore, during 1990s when the regime's response to the Islamist opposition became increasingly brutal, harassment of labor activists appeared to decline. The Ministry of Economy, Final Report: Private Sector Contribution to Egypt's Productivity and Growth, Development Economic Policy Reform Analysis Project, March 2000, pp. 45–48. IBTCI, Quarterly Review for the Period October 1, 1997 to December 31, 1997, p. 109. Ahmed Galal, Which Institutions Constrain Economic Growth the Most in Egypt, Working Paper no. 001 (Cairo: The Egyptian Center for Economic Studies, 1996), pp. 12–13. Interview with Nematallah, Cairo Times, January 13–19, 2000. Ragui Assaad, "Do Workers Pay for Social Protection? An Analysis of Wage Differentials in the Egyptian Private Sector," Working Paper 9610 (Cairo: Economic Research Forum on Arab Countries, Iran and Turkey, 1995). American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt, The Egyptian Labor Force (Cairo: American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt, July 1996), pp. 2–6. Business Monthly, June 2002, author interview with Kamal Abbas, Helwan, 1998. 'Abd al-Khaliq Farouq, Al-niqabat wa at tataur al-dusturiy fi Misr, 1923–1995 (Cairo: Center for Human Rights and Legal Aid, 1997), p. 59. Al-Sha'b, December 4, 1992. Al-Sha'b, December 4, 1992, Al-Ahrar, June 18, 1995. The Court also noted that the international treaties Egypt had signed obligated it to allow workers the right to strike. Al-Ahrar, September 18, 1996 It is important to note that although ETUC wanted to see the right to strike guaranteed, it also wanted to control when strikes would be called. ETUC was thus opposed to giving factory-level unions more autonomy. Kamel al-Manufi (ed.), Tahlil nataij al-intihabat al-'ummaliya (Cairo: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and Jama'at al-Qahira, Kulia al-Iqtisad wa al-'Ulum Siyasiya, 1997), pp. 23–24. Al-Taqrir al-Istratijiy, 1996, p. 285. Al-Ahram Weekly, January 6–12, 2000. Al-Ahrar, January 25, 1997. Interview with al-Sheikh in Cairo Times, January 13–19, 2000. He argued that unless an unemployment insurance plan was in place, the new law would only contribute to the already difficult economic situation of the workers. He further pointed out that "there is unemployment everywhere. That's normal. But when you look at European countries they all have unemployment insurance so even if you do not have a job at the moment you can still survive. This, however, is not the case in Egypt." Author interview with 'Abdel Hamid al-Sheikh, September 23, 1998, Cairo. Al-Ahali, October 21, 1998. Author interview with a legal advisor in the Public Enterprise Office, September 28, 1998, Cairo. The revised version of the law included a number of provisions that were generating much opposition. Among them was the extension of the daily working hours from seven to eight in industrial enterprises without any concomitant pay increases; a reduction in the number of non-holiday vacation days to seven a year; a reduction from three to two months of allowed maternity leave; an increase in the percentage that could be withheld from a worker's paycheck for payment of loans from 25% to 50%, and the termination of employer-provided health insurance. A survey of 6,000 public sector workers, conducted by Al-Arabi newspaper in 1996, suggested that government attempts to push forward with privatization were likely to encounter strong labor opposition at the enterprise level. The survey found that 91.2% of the workers were opposed to privatization. Among the 8.8% who supported the program, 80.6% were against the sale of public sector companies to foreigners and only 35.5% were willing to accept the sale of their own enterprise, cited in Business Today, August 1996. For a discussion of protest actions, see August 1996. Al-Sha'b, December 22, 1992; Al-Ahali, July 1, 1994; Al-Wafd, May 2, 1995; Al-Arabi, August 15, 1996; author interviews with labor activists, Cairo 1998. Middle East International, March 29, 1999. Land Center for Human Rights, Ahwal al-'umal fi Misr 'am 1998 (Cairo: Land Center for Human Rights, 1998 and Land Center for Human Rights annual report 2004), cited in Business Monthly, May 2005. Al-Ahram, March 27, 1995. For a discussion of labor protests during this period, also see Nicola Pratt, "Maintaining the Moral Economy: Egyptian State–Labor Relations in an Era of Economic Liberalization," Arab Studies Journal 8:2/9:1 (Fall 2000/Spring 2001), pp. 111–129. Among the group's goals was to campaign against all the parliamentarians who supported the legislation during the November 2000 elections. The threat was never carried out since the government did not present draft legislation for a vote. Statement of a World Bank representative to the author, September 2000, Washington, DC. Business Today, July 2003. US Department of State, February 25, 2004

Economic system · Economics · Globalization · Labour law · Law reform · Political economy · Political science · International Labor and Employment Law · Labor Movements and Unions · Law