The Center for Socialist Studies issued a statement on the victory of the Real Estate Tax Collectors’ Strike, asserting this will open new doors for the struggle of professionals and civil servants in other government sectors.
I received also some photos of the strikers celebrating their victory following the negotiations with the Finance Minister, taken by labor journalist Mostafa Bassiouny.
Another fight is also looming in the air… Once again it’s over the unions… The strike all throughout was run by the Higher Committee for the Real Estate Tax Collectors’ Strike, headed by the dynamic Kamal Abu Eita and in theory included one representative from each of the country’s 26 provinces. In effect, from seven to 15 members including Abu Eita were the real force in the committee as they were present together in Cairo, while the others were consulted over the phone. Where were the state-sponsored Union Committee members? They were not involved. And in a humiliating proof of their illegitimacy and lack of credibility they were not even invited to the final negotiations between the Finance Minister and members of the Higher Committee for the Real Estate Tax Collectors’ Strike, the true representatives of the civil servants.
[The state-sponsored union bureaucrats standing in the street, while the strike leaders and the Finance Minister negotiate an agreement. Photo by Mostafa Bassiouny.]