these people change our world

watch and learn from worker strikes in egypt over the past months

Workers of the Ideal Factory go on Strike

one of the best videos on Egyptian workers I have seen in a long time by Dina Abdalla @indtvblog

The effects of Privatization أثر الخصخصة

view the rest of the set

read more of the story by Yassin Gaber

Mahalla workers strike for higher minimum wages and independent union

المركز المصرى للحقوق الاقتصادية والاجتماعية يلاحق المجلس القومى للأجور لزيادة الحد الأدنى

أقام صباح اليوم المركز المصري للحقوق الاقتصادية والاجتماعية الدعوى رقم 4242 لسنة 65 قضائية أمام محكمة القضاء الادارى موكلا عن الصحفية أمنية شكر والطالبه هند محمود والعامل ناجى رشاد ضد رئيس الجمهورية، ورئيس الوزراء، ووزير التنمية الاقتصادية طعنا على قرار المجلس القومي للأجور بزيادة الحد الأدنى للأجر الشامل إلى 400 جنيه فقط.

وذكر المركز في طعنه أن القرار إلتف على أحكام القضاء، ونصوص الدستور والقانون لسببين:

السبب الأول: عندما أعلن هذا المبلغ باعتباره حدا للأجر الشامل حيث طالب المركز باعتبار هذا المبلغ حدا للأجر الأساسي، وذهب إلى أن الأجر الشامل لا يمكن تحديده بقرار لأنه يتضمن جزء متغير(العلاوات والبدلات والمكافآت) ومن الصعوبة قياسه أو ضبطه أو رقابه مدى التزام أصحاب الأعمال بتطبيقه لكونه يتغير من شهر لأخر حسب ظروف العمل، بالإضافة إلى أن أصحاب الأعمال - بما فيهم الدولة - يعمدوا دائما إلى تقليل الأجر الأساسي وزيادة الأجر المتغير ليكون بذلك أحد عوامل السيطرة على العمال، وأداة من أدوات تسهيل عقابهم. فتشير التقديرات الحكومية إلى أن الأجر الأساسي لا يزيد على 22% من الأجر الشامل0

السبب الثانى: أن غاية المشرع من وضع حد أدنى للأجور فى المجتمع تستهدف تحقيق التوازن بين الأجور والأسعار بما يضمن حياه كريمه للعامل وذهب المركز إلى أن إقرار مبلغ ال 400 جنيه كحدا للأجر سواء الاساسى أو الشامل لا يحقق هذه الغاية لأنه يجعل العامل المصري تحت خطى الفقر القومي والدولي معا، فخط الفقر القومي مقدر 656 جنيها فى الشهر طبقا لأسعار 2008، وطبقا لتقديرات وزارة التنمية الاقتصادية ذاتها حيث قدرت خط الفقر القومي بمبلغ 1968 جنيها للفرد سنويا وبذلك يكون الحد الأدنى للأجور للموظف باعتباره مسئولا عن أسرة مكونة من 4 أفراد (متوسط حجم الأسرة) =( 1968/12×4= 656 جنيه شهريا) حتى يصبح الموظف أو العامل على خط الفقر القومي، في حين تشير تقديرات البنك الدولي لتحديد خط الفقر الدولي إلى ما يفوق1200 جنيه، حيث قدر ب 2 دولار فى اليوم للفرد، لذا يحتاج العامل الذى يعول أربع أفراد إلى 8 دولار فى اليوم، ولو تم حساب سعر صرف الدولار على خمسة جنيها فقط يصبح الحد الأدنى 40 جنيها فى اليوم ×30 يوم= 1200 جنيه شهريا حتى يصبح العامل على خط الفقر الدولي.

واختتم المركز صحيفة دعواه بإلزما المطعون ضدهم بتقديم المستندات الدالة على الأسس والمعايير التي تم على أساسها وضع هذا المبلغ باعتباره حدا أدنى للأجر الشامل وليس حدا أدنى للأجر الاساسى، وكذلك تقديم المعايير والمؤشرات التي تم على أساسها حساب مبلغ ال 400 جنيها وخاصة بيان مفردات نفقات المعيشة التي تم استند إليها لحساب هذا المبلغ، وبيان المعايير التى جعلت المبلغ لا يتجاوز حتى خط الفقر القومي المحدد ب 656 جنيه شهريا. وطالب بوقف تنفيذ وإلغاء قرار المجلس القومي للأجور فيما ذهب إليه من حساب الحد الأدنى للأجر على الأجر الشامل وليس على الأجر الاساسى بما ترتب على ذلك من آثار أخصها اعتبار المبلغ المحدد من قبل المجلس القومي للأجور حدا للأجر الأساسي، ووقف تنفيذ وإلغاء قرار استبعاد خطى الفقر القومي والدولي طبقا لأسعار 2010 من حساب الحد الأدنى للأجر بما ترتب على ذلك من آثار أخصها إعادة حساب الحد الأدنى للأجر بمراعاة خطى الفقر القومى والدولي طبقا لأسعار 2010

وفى شرح صفة الطاعنين فى القضية ذكر المركز فى طعنه أنه إذا كان ناجى رشاد يعمل بقطاع الأعمال العام ومقيم الدعوى الأولى وصاحب مصلحة في تنفيذ الحكم تنفيذا حقيقيا، وأمنية شكر صحفيه تتضرر من عدم حساب الحد الأدنى للأجر على الأجر الاساسى، فإن هند محمود الطالبة الجامعية ستدخل إلى سوق العمل وترنوا للحصول على فرصة عمل بأجر عادل يضمن لها حياه كريمة.

المركز المصري للحقوق الاقتصادية والاجتماعية

31 أكتوبر 2010

My letter to president Arnold on the AUC workers strike

Dear president Arnold,

I would like to bring a recent concern of mine to your attention.

I am very grateful for the tools I received at AUC to think and assess critically the social and political processes that shape our daily lives. Since completing my graduate studies at AUC earlier this year I have been able to put some of these lessons and tools to use on behalf of the out of place and displaced. Thus, much of my journalistic and video work has focused on workers and farmers who are prime targets of cronyist and neo-liberal structural political processes in place in the Egyptian political regime. Since the late 1970s this group of people have become less and less of a priority to the Egyptian authorities and even more intensely so in the past decade.

It was with much concern that I read about the strike taking place on AUC's campus this week- the very campus where I learned to question these most draconian of measures.

In recent years living costs in Egypt have been going through the roof, working myself as a free-lancer I have struggled to cover my expenses. I realize I lead a very much privileged life style. Yet, even if I moved in with my parents where I would not pay for rent or food and were I to limit my life to the most basic expenditures I doubt I could manage spending only LE400 a month and that is only supporting myself. How a breadwinner supporting an entire family does so in Egypt I have no idea.

I would ask that AUC act as a beacon of difference in a country where workers are used and abused in a structural manner. Can AUC rise to the challenge and provide a moment of difference?

Earlier this year video I made a short documentary featuring a lawyer, economist and worker involved in raising court case 21606 against the Egyptian president, prime minister and minister of industry to provide a fair minimum living wage in accordance with market prices. The video will provide you with a very clear explanation for why the provision of a monthly salary of LE1200 is a very basic "human right"- the right to a fair wage and the right to lead an honorable life- that I believe AUC as an institution stands for. The call for a minimum salary of LE1200 a month is based on the UN's poverty line of $1 per day for an average household of five people.

A Little Justice Goes A Long Way from 2maystrike on Vimeo.

I would ask you to consider very seriously implementing what I consider the most basic demands of AUC's workers:

1. Receive a gross minimum monthly wage of 1,200 EGP (which means less than 1000EGP net) with equal pay for all workers who hold the same position.

2. Have Saturday as an official holiday for the AUC workers as it is for all those employed in the maintenance, service departments and the administration. If one is to work on Saturday they shall receive overtime pay for their work.

3. Receive 200 EGP as meal compensation (or an adequate meal) in addition to the salary.

4. Receive annual salary raise of no less than 10% on the original wage of each worker. This percentage is subject to be increased by the administration.

5. Receive Social Insurance coverage that includes all the years of service to the AUC.

thank you for taking the time to consider my concerns,

Philip Rizk

Future Pipe Industries worker sit-in, Lebanon

And here an August 21 Lebanese-Egyptian joint press statement:

Statement issued on behalf of the workers of Future Pipes‭, ‬Egypt and Lebanon branches‭. ‬

Fellow workers and noble activists‭:‬

After the blatant abuse exercised by the management of Future Pipes‭, ‬Inc‭, ‬represented by Fouad al Makhzoumi‭, ‬his family members‭, ‬legal advisers‭, ‬and close associates in his‭ "‬Party for National Dialogue‭", ‬whether in Egypt or Lebanon‭, ‬we find ourselves compelled to confront the face of exploitation and violation of our rights and earnings‭. ‬

Fouad Makhzoumi has made a point of closing down the factory in Akkar district in northern Lebanon‭, ‬displacing all of its workers‭ (‬in excess of 400‭) ‬with no compensation‭, ‬as we stand at the gates of the Holy Month of Ramadan‭. ‬Ironically‭, ‬he and his party members are arranging free iftars in various parts of Lebanon‭. ‬We do not hesitate to state openly that Al Makhzoumi employers have taken advantage of their financial wealth and political relations to buy the loyalty‭ ‬of employees in the Ministry of Labor‭. ‬The latter is entitled only to the name of a Ministry of Businessmen‭, ‬as our experiences attest to the extent of their bias‭. ‬

In Egypt‭, ‬Makhzoumi himself has taken it upon himself to deliberately transfer about 220‭ ‬workers‭. ‬This shameless transfer policy has recently resulted in fourteen workers on charges of incitement to strike‭. ‬And we say to Makhzoumi in this regard‭, ‬that‭ - ‬assuming evidence exists to the effect that these 14‭ ‬workers participated in strikes‭, ‬or incited to strike‭ - ‬indeed‭, ‬striking is not a crime to be charged with‭, ‬but rather‭, ‬a right that is sponsored by laws and international agreements‭. ‬We‭ ‬therefore stand against this blatant violation of our most basic rights‭. ‬Our colleagues in Egypt organized a strike in demand for wage proportionality in relation to risk exposure‭. ‬Several of them have been subject to the same diseases that have seized us owing to our continued dealing‭ -‬on production lines‭ - ‬with poisonous substances that have led to the development of cases of‭ asthma ‬and cancer‭, ‬in addition to aural and spinal complications‭. ‬

Today Al Makhzoumi ‬is betting on our despair from demanding our rights‭, ‬especially since most of us suffer under enormous pressure to survive after our wages have been terminated and under the pressure of long term loans which we owe banks‭. ‬As workers we are not accustomed to eating anything less than what we strive for‭, ‬and as such we declare that we will defend our rights and our livelihood with all our strength‭. ‬To this end we are prepared to sacrifice our lives in order to achieve our goal of re-opening the factory in Lebanon and re-employing our colleague workers who have been made redundant in Egypt‭.‬

We place the responsibility for any forthcoming actions squarely on Fouad Makhzoumi first and foremost‭, ‬in addition to those politicians associated with him‭, ‬particularly the Labor Minister Boutros Harb in Lebanon‭, ‬as the government is united in its silence from all ends and by all parties‭, ‬before the displacement of hundreds of workers‭. ‬We say to our elected officials‭, ‬chosen for representation and not pretense‭, ‬you will pay your dues when the time is ripe‭. ‬As for the general trade union‭, ‬we ask that they shoulder their responsibilities towards a defense of our rights as workers‭, ‬and not to be a bureaucratic organization in service of the establishment‭. ‬Thus we call on the trade union to return to its role in the democratic labor struggle‭.‬

‬Let us unite to return to workers their rights‭.‬

There is no other way to realize this goal but to persist in the struggle to preserve our violated rights and in defense of a better world free of exploitation‭. ‬

He who dies in defense of his homeland‭, ‬honor and wealth is a martyr‭, ‬and we are for it‭, ‬and may tomorrow come soon‭. ‬

Workers of Future Pipes‭, ‬Inc‭. ‬
Egypt and Lebanon

بيان صادر عن عمال المستقبل لصناعة الأنابيب فرعي مصر ولبنان
إخوتنا العمال، ايها المناضلون الشرفاء،
بعد التعسف الصارخ الذي مارسته ادارة شركة المستقبل لصناعة الأنابيب و الممثلة بفؤاد المخزومي و أفراد عائلته و مستشاريه القانونيين والمقربين في حزبه "حزب الحوار الوطني"، إن في مصر أو في لبنان، وجدنا أنفسنا كعمال مضطرين للوقوف بوجه الاستغلال وإنتهاك حقوقنا ومكتسباتنا.
فقد عمد فؤاد مخزومي الى إقفال المصنع في منطقة عكار شمال لبنان و تشريد جميع العاملين فيه الذين يفوق عددهم الأربعمائة و من دون أية تعويضات، ونحن على أبواب شهر رمضان المبارك بينما تنتشر، ويا للسخرية! موائد الرحمن التي ينظمها وحزبه في أنحاء مختلفة من لبنان. ونحن لا نتردد بالقول جهاراً بأن أصحاب العمل من آل مخزومي قد إستغلوا إمكاناتهم المادية وعلاقاتهم السياسية لشراء زمم موظفين في وزارة العمل. أما هذه الأخيرة فيستحق فيها إسم وزارة "أصحاب العمل" إذ برهنت تجربتنا عن مدى إنحيازها لهم.
أما في مصر، فقد عمد مخزومي نفسه الى صرف حوالي 220 عاملاً. وقد طالت سياسة الصرف التعسفي مؤخراً 14 عاملاً "بتهمة" التحريض على الإضراب. ونقول لمخزومي في هذا الصدد، أنه، وإن ثبت أن هؤلاء العمال الـ14 قد شاركوا أو حرضوا على الإضراب، فإن الإضراب، ليس بتهمة، فهو حق لنا كفلته القوانين والإتفاقات الدولية، وبالتالي نحن نقف ضد هذا الإنتهاك الصارخ لأبسط حقونا. وكان زملاؤنا في مصر قد نظموا إضراباً للمطالبة بتحسيب الأجور بما يوازي حجم المخاطر التي يتعرضون لها. وقد أصاب بعضهم ما أصابنا من أمراضٍ نتيجة تعاملنا المتواصل في الصناعة مع موادٍ سامة أدت الى ظهور حالات ربو وسرطان، بالإضافة الى مشاكل في السمع والعامود الفقري.
يراهن اليوم آل مخزومي على يأسنا من المطالبة بحقوقنا، خاصةً وأن أغلبنا يرزح تحت وطأة الضغط المعيشي بعد وقف مرتباتنا وتحت وطأة القروض الطويلة الأمد التي ندين لها للبنوك. إلاّ أننا كعمال لم نتعود أن نأكل إلا من عرق جبيننا، نعلن بأننا سندافع عن حقوقنا وأرزاقنا بكل ما أوتينا من قوة. و نحن لهذه الغاية، مستعدين للتضحية بحياتنا من أجل تحقيق مطالبنا المتمثلة بإعادة تشغيل المصنع في لبنان وإعادة رفاقنا العمال المصروفين في مصر.
و نحن نحمّل مسؤولية ما سيحصل من تحركات لفؤاد المخزومي بالمقام الأول ومن ينحاز إليه ويحميه من السياسيين، خاصة وزير العمل بطرس حرب في لبنان، كما الحكومة مجتمعة التي تلتزم الصمت بأطيافها وأحزابها مجتمعةً أمام تشريد مئات العمال. ونقول لنوابنا الذين أنتخبناهم ليمثلونا لا ليمثلوا علينا، فسوف يكون الحساب عند الإستحقاق. وبالنسبة للإتحاد العمالي العام، فنحن ندعوه الى تحمل مسؤولياته في الدفاع عن حقوقنا كعمال لا أن يكون منظمة بيروقراطية بخدمة النظام، وبالتالي ندعوه الى العودة الى موقعه النضالي العمالي الديموقراطي .
و ختاما الى اخواننا العمال نردد القول المأثور " أكلت يوم أكل الثور الأبيض". فلنتحد و نعلنها كلمة تعيد للعمال حقهم. وما من وسيلة لتحقيق ذللك سوى بالإستمرار في النضال حفاظاً على حقوقنا المنهوبة ودفاعاً عن عالم أفضل من دون إستغلال.
من مات دفاعاً عن وطنه وعرضه وماله فهو شهيد، ونحن لها، و ان الغد لناظره قريب.

عمال المستقبل لصناعة ألأنابيب
في لبنان وفي جمهورية مصر العربية

قصة من اعتصامات مجلس الشعب

قصة من اعتصامات مجلس الشعب from tabulagaza on Vimeo.

for translation visit

عمال مصر تضامنا مع اسطول الحرية

Amonsito Workers Will Return

Amonsito & The Inner Workings of State Violence

On 28 April Ahmad Ezz, appearing on Christiane Amanpour’s CNN show, spoke with pride of the demonstrations staged daily in front of parliament by “good Egyptians.” He went on to remark that the image of Egypt “stifling dissent… with no freedom of expression, is far from the mark.”

Sunday 23 May, proved claims of the Egyptian regime’s stifling dissent to be right on the mark.

The morning started with escalations by the workers of the Amonsito factory. Their union representatives were due to meet with Minister of Manpower and Immigration Aisha Abdel Hady and General Union head Hussein Megawer at 10am that morning.

What was to be discussed once more was the government’s backing out from a deal singed on 21 March between Bank Misr, the government’s Ministry of Manpower and Immigration and the worker’s union. Following the signed agreement the government-owned bank backed reduced the agreed upon amount of LE106 million to be paid out to the 1700 workers, to LE50 million.

Over the past week the workers have been progressively escalating their acts of protests in an attempt to get the government and the passers-by attention.

Sunday morning the workers were using whistles, chanting and beating the barricades the police uses to cage them onto the sidewalk. The deafening noise could be heard multiple streets away, drawing the attention of anyone in the vicinity. On Friday, some of the workers ripped their clothes and wrote message of dissent on their bodies.

Their calls of protest have reached a new level of urgency.

On Sunday the messages on their bodies and torn clothes included, “the thieving government,” “I want my rights.”

Around 1pm the union representatives returned from the parliament building with bad news. The head of the General Union and Manpower Minister had stood their ground and would not return to negotiate the original 21 March agreement.

After the announcement of this news, the workers tried to enter the gates of the parliament upon which security forces encircled them. When some of the workers managed to break through the barricade, the forces attacked them with wooden sticks, beating them severely and then arrested seven of the workers.

Minutes later many of the workers had dispersed all over town, Ragab Khidr was taken to a nearby hospital having loosing consciousness after security forces beat him over the head. Khidr later received stitches to his head.

Security forces did not spare Amonsito union head Khaled al-Shishawy, who also received multiple blows to his body. While showing me his wounds, he explained, “security forces faced us, the officers beat us up with their batons, we kept trying to hold back their blows.”

The representative of the 1700 workers went on, “we’re not leaving even if they shoot us. May they detain us all and put us behind bars.”

Four hours later security had forced all the workers away having threatened them with further use of violence and without having released the initial seven kidnapped workers.

The government-aligned Radio Misr station announced later that day that the workers had gone home, after having come to an agreement with the government.

Just a few minutes walk away from the Amonsito protest site, security forces forced similar sit-ins of the Nubariya and the Helwan Telephone Company from their sites of protest.

Al-Shishawy ended his statement saying, “I hope the world knows what democracy is like in Egypt, we are only asking for our rights.”

NDP parliamentarian Ahmad Ezz will have to drive to work tomorrow on streets cleared of protesters.

For the workers, the government spokesman’s words have never rung so hollow.

Security Forces Crack Down

The days events

Amonsito workers face security crackdown

After being kicked out of a parliament session in the early afternoon of March 23, Amonsito workers faced police brutality. Security forces kidnapped 6 workers and are now holding them at police stations. Security deny their presence at qasr alnil and sayeda Zeinab police stations despite witness accounts of their presence there

see witness accounts here

Visiting An Egyptian Worker Intifada

On May 18 the sidewalks of the Egyptian Parliament is packed with workers.

Leading the crowd is the 14-year-old daughter of the union leader.

In the heat of the day, about 30 workers from the Amonsito textile factory huddled under the shade of a tree.

“We are not workers, we are rejects,” the factory union leader Khaled el-Shishawy, who is known simply as sheikh Khaled said.

Read on

The workers returned after government officials and the crediting bank shirked responsibility on an agreement signed 55 days earlier.

Before returning 12 days ago, sheikh Khaled told me, “If we return to our sit-in, it won’t be the same as last time. Things will be different.”

More pictures of the workers' sit-in here.

The Shattering of the Egyptian State- Labor Uprising in Review

Kareem el-Beheiry was 20 years old when he first took part in a labor strike in December 2006.

"I didn't know what a strike was," said el-Beheiry, the Mahalla Textile Factory's first blogger.

The next day he saw a scene that changed his life. "I saw a woman crying in front of a TV camera, saying she could not feed her kids."

The blogger, shocked by the scene, thought to himself, "Does this really exist in Egypt?"

It does, according to Esam Shaban, a researcher at the Afaq Ishtiraqeyya Center. Over 80 percent of Egyptians are poor, Shaban says, and conditions have worsened over the past five years.

While the Egyptian government often claims that increasing poverty is a result of global market fluctuations, others suggest that Egypt's problems are the direct result of growing gentrification and the government's economic policies.

In the late 1990s the government began privatizing industry, which had been under state control since the 1950s. The education and health sectors were then privatized in the early 2000s. Many factories that had previously been nationalized were bought by foreign investors seeking quick profits. They were attracted by Egypt's lax labor laws, accentuated by a new law in 2003.

In the mid-1990s, farmers were stripped of the protective laws as the government stepped in to protect large landowners and cut subsidies to small farmers.

"Today even working two jobs is not sufficient to provide for a family," Shaban says. "It has caused an economic crisis and people can't remain quiet about this." Many Egyptians have taken to the streets to protest their economic plight.

"On the Egyptian street," says Shaban, "the individual act of discontent became a collective act of protest."

A turning point came in December 2006 when over 24,000 workers at a state-owned textile factory in the Nile Delta city of Mahalla launched a massive strike. On the third day of the strike, labor leader Jihad Taman noticed el-Beheiry filming and thought he was a security agent. When el-Beheiry showed him his factory ID card, Tamam took el-Beheiry under his wing.

The December 2006 strike broke down a barrier of fear among Egyptian labor activists. By the time of the next strike, in September of 2007, the blogger and his fellow strikers were chanting against the World Bank's role in the "colonization" of Egypt and calling for the downfall of President Hosni Mubarak.

News and images of the 2006 and 2007 uprisings spread across Egypt like a virus. Soon, strikes, sit-ins and protests were springing up all around the country.

On 6 April, 2008 food prices hit a new high, and once again Mahalla was the site of dissent.

With the aim of preventing another major strike, security forces closed the textile factory compound. State security trucks from around Egypt surrounded the Delta city. Workers subsequently called off the strike as security made it impossible for them to congregate.

Mahalla, however, was not easily pacified. When security forces beat a woman and her daughter, they ignited the people's anger. For days the clashes continued, with scenes reminiscent of the Palestinian Intifada becoming a reality on Egypt's streets.

Infrastructure, like police cars and train tracks, were set ablaze with the intention of sending a message: Under this regime, life has become unbearable.

In the 6 April uprising, the demands of the workers and the general population overlapped. People called for lower food prices as workers called for a minimum wage.

During the 6 April strike, state security agents arrested and tortured el-Beheiry along with many other labor activists. He was released 73 days later. In 2009, the government transferred el-Beheiry to Cairo and in 2010 he was fired.

In May 2008 a 10,000 person sit-in of real-estate tax collectors caused the government to give in to demands for a 300 percent wage increase. On 21 April 2009, thousands of tax collectors gathered at the Ministry of Manpower and Immigration, forcing Minister Aisha Abdel Hady to recognize their independent union, the first in Egypt since 1957.

At the end of 2009 more and more sit-ins moved to the sidewalks of downtown Cairo. When workers' calls for government interference--particularly in recently privatized factories--went unheeded, they moved to the gates of parliament.

On 8 February workers of the Tanta Flax and Oils Factory started a sit-in on the doorstep of the Council of Ministers in downtown Cairo. In January, the factory's union head, Salah Mosallam, along with nine others were fired in retribution for launching a number of strikes in Tanta. After the Saudi factory owner locked the factory, workers moved their protest to downtown Cairo, calling for their re-instatement or severance payments in accordance with Egyptian law.

"The example of the Tanta Flax Company has proved that the policy of privatization is a failure," said independent MP Gamal Zahran.

After more than two weeks of sitting-in, the roughly 400 protestors rolled up their blankets and went home after the union head came to an verbal agreement with Minister of Manpower and Labor Aisha Abdel Hady and the factory representatives.

But while the Tanta workers may have been temporarily placated, their action brought about a new tactic for Egypt's labor movement. Their 16-day sit-in started a new wave of sit-ins on the sidewalks of the Egyptian parliament.

Workers from the Salemco and Amonsito companies repeated the Tanta Flax scenario almost as if they were following the same script. It seems as though workers have discovered that in order to have their voices heard, they must take their protests to the streets of Cairo.

So far, even this kind of pressure has only brought limited results as factory owners have repeatedly neglected to uphold the promises they make to force the workers off the street. A few weeks after their settlement, the Tanta Flax and Oil Company workers were back on the streets of downtown Cairo.

While the ongoing strikes have empowered Egyptian labor activists, conditions are still not ideal.

"We say the street is ours, but when security forces beat Bahaa Saber in public and then tortured him behind closed doors, this remains only a slogan," says Mahalla blogger el-Beheiry, referring to the 6 April 2010 protest at which an activist was violently beaten in front of masses of onlookers and rolling video cameras.

"Protests don't show the democracy of the government, they prove the failure of the government, they show there is no government," el-Beheiry says.

The Egyptian government's inequitable economic policies are working to shatter the concept of the state as a paternal figure, according to Shaban. "Confidence in the state that controls everything, that turns the water on and off, has been lost."

El-Beheiry thinks that protests need to be combined with direct action. "I like the idea of workers in Argentina. Let us privatize the factories for ourselves. This must be tried in Egypt," he says, referring to events during Argentina's 2001 economic crisis where factory owners fled the country with their savings and workers took over factory administrations and ran the shop floors themselves.

On 19 February MP Nasha't el-Qassass from President Mubarak's National Democratic Party called for protestors to be shot. The parliament responded by recommending to him to the Values Committee.

The following day protesters held placards reading, "Shoot us."

"The media has been central in spreading the news of protests," Shaban says. Today protesters are benefiting from the coverage of local and international media outlets as well as citizen journalism tools, like blogs, twitter, and live video feeds.

Last month, lawyer Khaled Ali from the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights handed in the papers for a case calling on the Egyptian government to set a fair minimum wage. Hundreds gathered at the Minister's Council lead by Independent Tax Collector Union head Kamal Abu Eita chanting, "For those living in castles, a maximum wage, for those living in graves, a minimum living wage."

On 1 May, sugar factories in the Qena Governorate went on strike due to unbearably low wages. At the end of April, 9000 workers at an aluminum factory in Naga Hamadi called for the implementation of a LE1200 a minimum wage.

Meanwhile, the five different groups of protesters on the sidewalk of the parliament buildings united to raise their voice in protest on May Day.

"On Labor Day, workers are supposed to be given benefits, year after year we are being given crises," says el-Beheiry.

Later today, workers and activists from all around the country will protest before the Council of Ministers. They will call for the implementation of a court case that was raised and won by worker Nagy Rashad against the Egyptian government. According to the court ruling, the prime minister is required to introduce a minimum living wage in accordance with market prices by 1 May. The current minimum wage, set in the mid-1980s, is LE35.

Meters from where many of the sit-ins have been taking place, an old mural reads, "Democracy ascertains the rule of the people." But for the people sleeping on the sidewalk, this sounds like a hollow platitude.

Workers of Egypt in Solidarity with the People of Greece on the 20 May Strike

From across the Mediterranean we have been witnessing the economic crisis and its effects on the people of Greece. For many in Egypt, Europe seems a far distance away, yet the financial realities of our globalized world mean that what happens to our brothers and sisters in Greece does not leave us unaffected.

The intolerable conditions of people in both Greece and Egypt is a direct consequence of the failures of capitalism and policies of neo-liberalism. Both in Greece and Egypt the governing authorities are reducing public sector funding in various spheres, like education, health and services, with the stated aim of "reform."

For the people of Greece the economic decisions taken by their government representatives has translated into a "financial crisis" that is causing widespread suffering of the population. In response the government is again punishing the people of Greece by imposing large-scale public spending cuts.

For the people of Egypt, though there is no report of a "financial crisis," consistent government spending cuts and privatization has also translated into suffering and thus a crisis in every sense of the word. All across the country workers have been holding sit-ins and strikes to protest miniscule government salaries and the illegal actions of privatized factory owners. In Egypt investment is on the rise, but the profits are not "trickling down" to the working class as promised.



We call for the governments of Greece and Egypt to re-shaped their economic agenda to prioritize the needs of people over the profits of investors.

Today, on the streets of Egypt we stand in solidarity with Greek protestors and affirm your stance against capitalism and the tyranny of governments that impose it.

In solidarity,

The workers of Al-Mahalla
The workers of Tanta Flax and Oil Company
The Real Estate Tax Collectors' Independent Union
The Socialist Studies Center
The Workers Preparatory Committee

تابعنا الازمة الاقتصادية التي وقعت في اليونان و الاثر الذي خلفته على الشعب اليوناني. الكثيرون في مصر يرون مسافة كبيرة بيننا و بين اوروبا، الا ان الحقائق المالية لعصر العولمة الذي نعيشه تفيد بان ما يعانيه اخواننا و اخواتنا في اليونان لا يتركنا دون تاثير.

ان الظروف العسيرة التي يمر بها شعبا اليونان و مصر لهي نتاج فشل سياسات الراسمالية و الليبرالية الجديدة. ففي كلا البلدين تقلص السلطات من التمويلات المخصصة لعدة اقسام من القطاع العام، كالتعليم، و الصحة، و الخدمات. و يجري كل ذلك تحت شعار "الاصلاح

يرى اليونانيون ان الخطوات التي اتخذها نوابهم تسببت في ازمة مالية نتج عنها معاناة للشعب على نطاق واسع. فيما ردت الحكومة باقتطاع جزء ضخم من النفقات العامة و كانها تعاقب شعبها.

اما فيما يخص الشعب المصري، فلا تقارير عن "ازمة مالية"، الا ان الاقتطاعات الدائمة للانفاق، الى جانب سياسة الخصخصة، اسهموا في خلق معاناة و ازمات بكل ما تحمله الكلمة من معنى. لقد نظم العمال في انحاء الجمهورية اعتصامات و اضرابات اعتراضا على تدني الاجور و الممارسات غير القانونية من جانب ملاك الشركات المخصخصة. و برغم ان حركة الاستثمارات في مصر في تصاعد، الا ان الطبقات العاملة لم تلمس فوائدها حسبما وعدت.

اننا نطالب حكومتي كلا من مصر و اليونان ان تعيدا ترتيب اجندتيهما بوضع احتياجات الشعب فوق مصالح المستثمرين.

ونحن اليوم متضامنون في شوارع مصر مع المتظاهرين اليونانيين ضد الراسمالية و الحكومات المستبدة التي تفرضها علينا.

رابتة عمال المحلة

عمال طنطا للكتان والزيوت

النقابة المستقلة للضرائب العقارية

مركز الدراسات الاشتراكية

اللجنة التحضيرية للعمال