Workers protest in Egypt

The past two years have seen a blossoming of labor unrest and organization in Egypt’s industrial zones. The Mahalla textile plant has been the epicenter of this activity, with numerous strike actions and the development of workers’ groups that are autonomous from traditionally government controlled unions.

Now the Mahalla workers are taking their demands nationwide. They are also rebelling against a U.S.-sponsored dictatorship. As the Socialist Worker reports, workers chanted “Down, down Hosni Mubarak! Your rule is shit!” during this week’s protests.

Those protests have also been courageous. As the Worker continued, “The protest was organized in secret by left wing activists in the factory. Bosses called in police in riot gear. At this point the workers stormed the gates and drove them away.”

“They marched through the streets waving loaves of bread and chanting, “We are sick of eating beans while the rich eat chicken and pigeons.” Others chanted against Mubarak’s son and heir, “Gamal Mubarak, tell your dad we hate him!”

At least 10,000 employees of Egypt’s biggest textile factory have protested against price hikes, demanding a sharp rise in the minimum wage nationwide in the first such protest in decades.

Thousands of textile workers gathered at the Ghazl al-Mahalla factory north of Cairo shouting slogans to protest against the rise in the price of basic commodities, a security source told AFP.

The workers are demanding that the minimum wage be raised to 1,200 Egyptian pounds (218 US dollars) a month for all workers around the country.

“This is the first time there’s a big workers’ demonstration for national demands,” said Sameh Naguib, a sociologist at the American University in Cairo. “This hasn’t happened for decades….

Posted by Szamko
Just tries to tell the truth.

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