In addition to democratizing industrial relations, an important indicator on the institutional level is that the unions are able to implement the demands of the workers. A strong organization which is able to implement the demands of the workers increases their control over decisions that affect them, which is an important part of democratization.
In the case of the Independent Transportation Workers, many of their minor demands have been implemented. In 2007 the ticket bonus was at 4 percent, today it has reached 12 percent. The meal allowance has been increased the last three years with around 150EGP (25USD), the number of spare parts has increased, and a new fleet of buses arrived in 2011. All these concessions have come as direct results of a strike.13 These successes prompted leaders in the Independent Transportation Workers to tell me that “every strike we have organized has been successful” and that “they always give in to our demands”. At the same time, the most central demand for the Independent Transportation Workers, the transfer of oversight from the Cairo Governorate to the Ministry of Transportation, has not been fulfilled. This frustrates the leadership. “If they only changed oversight, all the other problems would disappear. They would afford to raise our wages and give us the buses we need”, one of the central leadership leaders told me.
On paper, the Independent Doctors have been much longer on strike than the Independent Transportation Workers, but fewer of their demands have been implemented. The only demand that was clearly fulfilled as a result of the strike in late 2012 was increased security in the hospitals. Neither the pay raise, nor the gradual increase of health spending in the national budget was fulfilled, and the syndicate confirmed in June 2013 that these were still the most important demands (al-Ahram 2013). The Independent Doctors are still in negotiations with the government, but nothing has materialized yet. The Ministry of Health promised to look into it when the three month long strike ended in 2012, but the doctors have not received a pay raise so far, according to my informants.
If we judge the strength of these unions by how many demands they have successfully implemented, the Independent Doctors comes out rather weak, whereas the Independent Transportation Workers seem more effective. The Independent Doctors organized one of the longest strikes in Egypt’s history, but were still unable to get their demands through, while the Independent Transportation Workers got all their demands granted, except one. However, this
79 interpretation might be unfair. First, there are good reasons, beyond the control of the doctors, for why their central demands have not yet been fulfilled. The Egyptian economy is weak. To increase the health budget to 15 percent of the GDP, and increase the doctors’ salary with 300 percent is arguably impossible in an Egypt with today`s economy. Second, all the unfulfilled demands are demands that require changes in legislation in order to be approved. The legislative context in Egypt since 2011 has been very challenging to operate in for these unions. They first appealed to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) that had legislative powers from February 2011, until the new parliament was in place in 2012 (Al- Arabiyya 2012). Then they addressed the parliament in 2012, but this parliament was dissolved in June 2012 (Al-Jazeera 2012). Then they addressed the Shura council which was given legislative authority, but this was dissolved again in July 2013 (Perry 2013). To get laws concerning specific organizational issues regarding the doctors and the transportation workers in this environment is indeed difficult if not impossible.
And even though the Independent Transportation Workers got many of their demands through, the demands they raised were also easier to implement. For example, the Independent Transportation Workers agree that “a complete overhaul” of the wage structure in Egypt is needed for real social justice to happen, but they do not want to fight for its implementation. Today, the basic wage comprises only 10 percent of the total salary, whereas 90 percent are bonuses. This makes the income very unstable and subject to unpredictable changes. When income is dominated by bonuses, it is also impossible to enforce a fair minimum wage, and makes it easier for employers to make rapid cuts in wages (al-Biblawy 2012). The reason the Independent Transportation Workers do not demand an overhaul of the wage system is that “this is nothing our employer can enforce”. So they realize that in order to implement this, the decision must be taken on a higher level. But as long as the Independent Transportation Workers’ union is unwilling to participate or support negotiations for structural changes at a higher level, these kinds of reforms, remain impossible to achieve.
So as we see, there is more than one possible interpretation of these findings. The unions have managed to implement some demands, but not the most important ones. Their strategies are hindering them, especially the transportation workers, from supporting structural demands like a minimum wage which would benefit them directly. By this measure, the unions under study appear weaker than their proven mobilization capacity suggests. However, if we are to measure strength as the unions’ ability to influence the state and their employers, the picture that emerges is somewhat different. Both the Independent
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Transportation Workers and the Independent Doctors conduct regular meetings with their employers, relevant ministries, the Prime Minister and the President’s office. They have both formed delegations that have addressed the Parliament and Shura council, and especially the Independent Doctors have succeeded in attracting media attention. The fact that the transportation workers have become legitimate representatives, and are listened to and that the Independent Doctors managed to mobilize one of the longest strikes in Egyptian history, are signs of strength in themselves. The Independent Transportation Workers and the Independent Doctors have not proven their full strength, but have the potential to become strong unions in the future.