Posts Tagged ‘workers’

إضراب عمال شبكة قطارات الأنفاق في لندن

Egypt

We have been enslaved—not just for the past three decades of Mubarak’s rule, or since the 1952 military coup but—for five thousand years with the start of the Egyptian civilization.

Amid all the ongoing talk about political reform and the post-Mubarak scenarios, I can’t help but thinking we haven’t waited that long, that long, that long, just to end up with liberal democracy and people we can at best elect every five years.

This nation deserves no less than a republic, run by direct democracy.

Helwan military tribunal updates: Verdict expected tomorrow غدا: الحكم على عمال 99 الحربي المحالين للقضاء العسكري

A military court is expected to issue its verdict tomorrow in the case of the eight Helwan workers.

Torture in Saudi Arabia

مؤتمر صحفي لمحاميي وعائلات عمال مصنع ٩٩ الحربي المحالين للمحاكمة العسكرية

Tomorrow Saturday 9:30pm, there will be a press conference held by the families and defense lawyers of the Helwan workers who are facing military tribunal for protesting lax industrial safety measures at their factory.

The event will be held at the Center for Socialist Studies, 7 Murad Street, Giza.

Mahalla updates

I was chatting today with a labor organizer, and I was shocked to hear from him that the number of labor force in Ghazl el-Mahalla has gone down to 18,000, from 27,000 workers in 2006. The drastic decrease, he said, was due to increased pressure from the management on workers to accept early buyout packages, coupled with the increasingly dismal conditions of machinery which has given the workers a bleak view of the company’s future.

Organizing on the shop floor has been suffered a great set back following the failure of the 6 April 2008 strike to materialize, despite the eruption of the city in a two day uprising. A protest was organized in October 2008, followed by another crackdown where labor organizers were transferred to the company branches outside the Nile Delta.

The strike movement, though sparked by Ghazl el-Mahalla, has not died down with the downturn in industrial action in the factory. Already there has been a spat of strikes in other textile firms in the city, especially those in the Qualified Industrial Zones, and others. And recently there has been protests among the hospital workers in town, among whom many are relatives of workers in the textile firm.

The factory is still a heavy weight player in the labor arena, even when it’s witnessing a downturn. A revival in the militancy is not impossible.

Activists demonstrate in solidarity with Helwan workers

Activists protest the detention and military prosecution of Helwan strikers…

Helwan workers face military tribunal

Solidarity needed with the Helwan Engineering Industries factory, who are facing military tribunal for protesting lax industrial safety measures that led to the death of one of their comrades.

A protest is planned this Wednesday 12 noon, in front of the Public Prosecutor’s office in downtown Cairo.

Chile mine rescue may take months

South African workers stage general strike

Around 1.3 million South African workers have begun an indefinite strike…