Cairo: 28 October 2018
The Freedom of Expression for Labor and Social Movements program of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) welcomes the ruling issued on 23 October by the State Council Disciplinary Court in Shebin El-Koum over Lawsuit No. 646 of the judicial year 17 to nullify decision No. 386 of 2018, which was issued as a penalty against 31 female nurses from Shebin El-Koum Teaching Hospital, with its consequent effects. The ruling also involves adjourning the sentence against 41 nurses until the November 27 hearing, against the backdrop of going on a labor strike to protest the administration’s intransigence in paying their dues.
The Freedom of Expression for Labor and Social Movements program filed a number of lawsuits for 12 nurses before the State Council in Cairo regarding the same issue. It also took the nurses’ side in the case filed in Shebin El-Koum by the Nursing Syndicate to reverse the decision handed down against 72 female nurses from the Shebin Al-Kom Teaching Hospital deducting 45 days from the salary of 69 nurses and five days from three others.
It’s worth mentioning that Shebin Al-Kom Teaching Hospital nurses had gone on a partial strike as of 14 April 2016 calling for the implementation of several demands, including fair distribution of work shifts, disbursement of the emergency incentive, and appointment of a nursing head who is elected by nurses and serves in her post for only two years.
After returning to their work, they were surprised that they had been referred to the Administrative Prosecution for investigation. Then in 2017, a decision was issued that 99 nurses be penalized by deducting the pay of 45 days from their salaries, coupled with the equivalent of one full day (on which the strike was staged), in addition to penalizing three other nurses by a five-day deduction from the salary of each of them. Accordingly, the head of the Administrative Prosecution Authority issued decision No. 386 of 2018 imposing the aforementioned sanctions.
ANHRI’s Freedom of Expression for Labor and Social Movements program said: “This ruling brings things back to their legal base and brings justice for male and female nurses. We are awaiting the lawsuits lodged before Cairo’s State Council; because we truly believe in the nurses’ case and their right to go on strike after all the ways to obtain their legitimate rights and fair demands have been exhausted. “
