The Egyptian Democratic Labour Congress (EDLC) is an independent

national trade union centre A national trade union center (or national center or central) is a federation or confederation of trade unions in a country. Nearly every country in the world has a national trade union center, and many have more than one. In some regions, such a ...

formed in 2013. Following the

Egyptian Revolution of 2011 The 2011 Egyptian revolution, also known as the 25 January revolution ( ar, ثورة ٢٥ يناير; ), began on 25 January 2011 and spread across Egypt. The date was set by various youth groups to coincide with the annual Egyptian "Police ho ...

large numbers of independent trade unions emerged. While the first independent unions in the public sector joined the

Egyptian Federation of Independent Trade Unions The Egyptian Federation of Independent Trade Unions (EFITU, also referred to as the Egyptian Independent Trade Union Federation) was the first independent national trade union center to be founded following the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. Previousl ...

(EFITU), the EDLC grouped together mostly private sector trade unions. The EDLC has its origins in the work of

Kamal Abbas Kamal Abbas ( arz, كمال عباس; born in 1955) is General Coordinator of the Center for Trade Unions and Workers Services (CTUWS), an activist group for independent unions in Egypt. Involved in activism for over 20 years, Abbas has been ac ...

of the Centre for Trade Union and Workers' Services (CTUWS), a non-government organization which supported workers during the

Mubarak regime The history of Egypt under Hosni Mubarak spans a period of 29 years, beginning with the 1981 assassination of President Anwar Sadat and lasting until the Egyptian revolution of January 2011, when Mubarak was overthrown in a popular uprising as ...

, when independent unions were banned.

References

{{Portal bar, Organized labour Trade unions in Egypt 2013 establishments in Egypt Organizations established in 2013