Manpower Minister Mohamed Saafan and the Director of the International Labour Organization Office in Cairo Eric Oechslin are expected to chair the 3rd Tripartite meeting on the “Strengthening Labour Relations and its Institutions in Egypt” (SLARIE) project in Cairo in the coming weeks.

In the third meeting of this kind, discussions will build upon the results discussed during the last tripartite meeting held on November 5, 2020. The event brought together the country’s government, employer, and worker representatives.

About 40 participants joined the discussion, which focused on the progresses made by the ILO`s SLARIE project, measured against the work plan drafted afterthe first tripartite meeting in March 2020.

Back then, a string of ambitious recommendations ensued.

These included identifying suitable indicators to measure SLARIE’s progress and problems linked to the trade union registration process, improving the tripartite dialogue at the national level, identifying the support needs of the constituents, and discussing the progress of the Better Work Egypt (BWEG) programme.

“SLARIE aims to contribute to the creation of an environment conducive to the full application of the trade union organization law, the implementation of the Better Work programme for sound labor relations and to support the country’s comprehensive growth through the development of the capacities of each tripartite constituent,” Oechslin said at the tripartite event.

The meeting agenda drew on the results of the intense series of consultative meetings that the ILO held between July-November with its national partners.

These sessions were set to identify the challenges that government, employer, and worker representatives face when registering a trade union, while also seeking their input on ways to improve the process.

At the November’s event, SLARIE National Coordinator Marwa Salah gave a thorough presentation of the project, its activities and the results achieved so far. Salah also illustrated the content gathered during the agency-run consultative meetings in the previous months.

She finally walked the audience through the review provided by ILO consultant Jamal Rhmani, Morocco’s former Labour Minister and trade unionist, on the most important proposals and recommendations on the registration procedure of trade union organizations in Egypt.
Discussions will continue in the next tripartite meeting in early March. On this occasion, participants will be expected to restate their commitment to collaborating to reach the SLARIE project’s goals.