I received a statement issued by the Mahalla Solidarity Committee on Thursday, with more details about the solidarity action with the Ghazl el-Mahalla strikers.
According to the statement, a number of textile labor activists in Bolivara, El-Soyouf, and Alexandria Spinning and Weaving have met and are mobilizing for solidarity protests in their factories. Kafr el-Dawar workers are also mobilizing for a new protest, while the Helwan Iron and Steel Mills workers are fund raising for the Mahalla strikers.
The Socialist Alliance is also calling on Egyptians to join the protest against the General Federation of Trade Unions this Sunday, 12 noon, Galaa St.
The Global Labor movement is responding.
There are more letters of protest sent to the Egyptian government. Please see below.
Egyptian Government Urged to Intervene to Protect Rights of Striking Textile Workers
FOR THE PRESS
Egyptian Government Urged to Intervene to Protect Rights of Striking Textile Workers
For immediate release: September 27, 2007
The Egyptian government been urged to act immediately to protect the rights of thousands of workers at one of the country’s biggest state-owned textile factories.
In a letter to President Hosni Mubarak, the Brussels-based International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers’ Federation expressed concern at the Misr Helwan Spinning and Weaving Company in El Mahalla el Kubra, where workers have been on strike since Sunday demanding improvements in their wages and working conditions.
Said ITGLWF General Secretary Neil Kearney in his letter: “We have noted and fully agree with the statement of the General Board of the International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions (ICATU) endorsing these demands, calling for a halt to retaliatory action against the workers including those at the forefront of the strike, condemning the uncaring stance of the company towards the plight of the workers and demanding that the Egyptian government ensure that workers rights are fully respected and that the fair, just and legal demands of the workers at the Misr Spinning and Weaving Company in El Mahalla el Kubra are met, thus contributing to the economic and social stability of Egypt”.
“We believe it is vital that the government of Egypt act immediately to protect the rights of all textile workers in El Mahalla el Kubra and agree and to enforce their demands”, concluded Mr. Kearney.
-ends-
The International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers’ Federation is a global union federation bringing together 220 affiliated organizations in 110 countries with a combined membership of 10 million workers.
For more information, contact:
Neil Kearney (General Secretary) at 32/475932487 (mobile) or nkearney@itglwf.org
ITGLWF Secretariat at tel: 32/02/511.26.06, fax: 32/02/511.09.04 or office@itglwf.org
Visit our website at http://www.itglwf.org
https://web.archive.org/web/20071012123022/http://itglwf.org/DisplayDocument.aspx?idarticle=15357&langue=2
Here is another letter from the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)
His Excellency Hosni Mubarak
President of the Arab Republic of Egypt
`Abdin Palace
Cairo
Egypt
Via fax: 202-390-1998
HTUR/SH 28 September 2007
Textile workers’ strike – arrest of five workers’ leaders
Dear President,
The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), which represents 168 million workers through its 305 national affiliated trade union centers in 153 countries and territories, strongly protests at the arrest and detention of five workers at the Misr Helwan Spinning and Weaving Company’s factory in Mahalla el Kubra.
According to our information, the public prosecutor ordered the arrest of Magdi Sharif, Mohammed El Attar, Wael Habib, Faisal Laqoosha and Gamal Abu Al-Isaad on Monday 24 September, on charges of inciting the strike.
The 27,000 workers taking part in this strike are doing so of their own free will, to call for higher wages and more benefits and to express their frustration at the company’s failure to honour an agreement on bonuses negotiated in December last year.
The ITUC fully supports the demands of the workers of El Mahalla el Kubra and the legitimate exercise of their internationally recognized rights. Egypt has ratified ILO Conventions 87 and 98 on the freedom of association, the right to organize and collective bargaining, and is bound to uphold the principles contained in them. We therefore urge your government to drop all charges against the five workers, ensure the protection of the rights of the textile workers, and take measures to guarantee that their just and legal demands are met as soon as possible.
Yours sincerely,
General Secretary
Here is a translation from Arabic of a press statement from the International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions (ICATU)
Statement – General Board of the International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions (ICATU)
Demanding of the Egyptian Government to respond to the workers’ demands
The General Board of our federation released a statement on 25 September 2007; demanding of the Egyptian government to respond to the demands of the workers in the Egyptian (Misr) Spinning and Weaving Company and herein below are the details of the statement:
Since a few days now the Egyptian workers at the Egypt (Misr) Spinning & Weaving Company (in the city of El Mahalla el Kubra) have been on strike demanding improvement in their wages and working conditions.
The General Board of the International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions (ICATU) salutes the Egyptian workers and affirms its support for the fair, just and legal demands being made by the workers; and demands of the Egyptian government to respond to these demands; to help the workers and to achieve justice; all for the goal of social stability.
In addition, the General Board demands of the Egyptian government to stop retaliatory actions against the workers, which includes arrest and bringing in front of the judiciary, of those who have organized the strikes. These actions are considered a violation of trade unions rights and liberties, and a violation of the core Arab and International labor standards. Knowing that the right to strike is a legal acceptable right; knowing that the trade unionists who have been taken to court (judicial system); it was their right to practice their trade union work to defend the rights of workers and they did not commit any criminal crimes that would entail punishment by law. The General Board of the International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions (ICATU) reaffirms that these labor actions in Egypt are aimed at the protection and preservation of worker rights and to ensure their demands for a decent honorable life. Knowingly, the company played afoul with these rights and increased its profits not caring about the monstrous increase in the cost of living that is eating up the workers and their families and they are not able to secure the essentials of daily life for their families, basic needs and the security of a stable decent life for them.
Therefore, the General Board declares its support to the Egyptian Trade Union Federation in its defense of workers’ rights – economic and social — and we demand of the Egyptian government to cooperate with the Federation and to respond and fulfill the workers’ demands – all for the strengthening of economic and social stability in Egypt.
Here are the statements & protest letters in Arabic –
فخامة الرئيس حسني مبارك
رئيس جمهورية مصر العربية
قصر عابدين
القاهرة
مصر
عن طريق الفاكس: 1998-390-202
28 سبتمبر 2007
إضراب عمال النسيج – القاء القبض على خمسة من قادة العمال
عزيزي السيد/ الرئيس،
إن الاتحاد الدولي لنقابات العمال، والذى يمثل 168 مليون عامل من خلال 305 مركز قومي لنقابات العمال منتسبة اليه من 153 دولة ومنطقة، يحتج وبشدة على القاء القبض على خمسة من العمال بمصنع شركة مصر حلوان للغزل والنسيج بالمحلة الكبري واحتجازهم.
ووفقاً للمعلومات المتوفرة لدينا، فقد أمر المدعي العام بالقاء القبض على مجدي شريف، ومحمد العطار، ووائل حبيب، وفيصل لقوشه، وجمال ابو الاسعاد يوم الاثنين 24 سبتمبر، بتهم التحريض على الاضراب.
إن الـ 27 الف عامل المشاركين في هذا الاضراب، انما يفعلون ذلك بأرادتهم الحرة، للمطالبة بأجور اعلي ومزيد من المزايا، ولكي يعبروا عن احباطهم من فشل الشركة احترام اتفاق خاص بالارباح تم التفاوض بشأنه في ديسمبر من العام الماضي.
إن الاتحاد الدولي لنقابات العمال يساند تماماً مطالب عمال المحلة الكبري، والممارسة المشروعة لحقوقهم المعترف بها دولياً. لقد صدقت مصر على اتفاقيات منظمة العمل الدولية 87 و98 حول حرية الانضمام الى التجمعات، وحرية التنظيم، والمفاوضة الجماعية، وهي ملتزمة باحترام المبادئ المتضمنه فيهم. لذلك فاننا نناشد حكومتكم ان تسقط كافة التهم الموجهة ضد العمال الخمسة، وتضمن حماية حقوق عمال النسيج، وتتخذ الاجراءات لضمان الوفاء بمطالبهم العادلة والقانونية في اسرع وقت ممكن.
المخلص،
السكرتير العام
بيان للصحف
مناشدة الحكومة المصرية للتدخل من اجل حماية حقوق عمال النسيج المضربين
للنشر الفوري: 27 سبتمبر/ أيلول،2007
تم مناشدة الحكومة المصرية من اجل التحرك الفوري لحماية حقوق الآف العمال في واحد من اكبر مصانع النسيج المملوكة للدولة بمصر.
لقد عبر الاتحاد الدولي لعمال النسيج والملابس والجلود، ومقره بروكسل، في خطاب تم ارساله الى الرئيس حسنى مبارك، عن قلقه لما يحدث بشركة مصر – حلوان للغزل والنسيج، بالمحلة الكبري، حيث لايزال العمال مضربين منذ يوم الاحد مطالبين بتحسين أجورهم وظروف عملهم.
لقد قال نيل كيرني، السكرتير العام للاتحاد الدولي لعمال النسيج والملابس والجلود في خطابه: “لقد اطلعنا علي، ونتفق تماماً مع، بيان المجلس العام للاتحاد الدولي لنقابات العمال العرب مؤيداً هذه المطالب، ومطالباً بوقف العمل الإنتقامي ضد العمال، بما في ذلك هؤلاء الموجودين في طليعة الاضراب، وشاجباً الموقف غير المبالي للشركة تجاه مصير العمال، ومطالباً الحكومة المصرية بأن تضمن الاحترام الكامل لحقوق العمال وان يتم الوفاء بالمطالب المشروعة والعادلة والقانونية للعمال بشركة مصر للغزل والنسيج بالمحلة الكبري، مما يسهم في تحقيق الاستقرار الاقتصادي والاجتماعي بمصر.” “إننا نعتقد انه من الضروري ان تتحرك الحكومة المصرية فوراً لحماية حقوق جميع عمال النسيج بالمحلة الكبري، وان توافق على تنفيذ مطالبهم”، اختتم السيد/ كيرني خطابه.
– انتهى –
الإتحاد الدولي لعمال النسيج والملابس والجلود هو اتحاد نقابات عالمي يضم 220 منظمة منتسبه من 110 دولة، بحجم عضوية مشترك يصل الى 10 مليون عامل.
لمزيد من المعلومات، برجاء الاتصال بـ:
نيل كيرني (السكرتير العام) 475932487/32 (موبيل) أو nkearney@itglwf.org
سكرتارية الاتحاد الدولي لعمال النسيج والملابس والجلود علي هاتف رقم: 511.26.06/02/32، فاكس: 511.09.04/02/32 أو office@itglwf.org
زوروا موقعنا الاليكتروني على http://www.itglwf.org