Helwan Cement Mills occupation was suspended last night.
Year: 2009
Ghazl el-Mahalla updates: A new strike looming
The Textile Workers’ League has given the Labor Ministry an ultimatum, 9th of May, to respond to the workers’ demands, threatening a strike.
You’ll find some press reports circulating, quoting “workers from Mahalla” or whatever statements that supposedly are circulating the factory floor, threatening a strike on the 1st of May. There could be nothing more stupid than this, coz the 1st of May is already a national holiday and the factory is off, so what strike are you talking about?!! (Reminds me also of a Mahalla labor activist who was circulating a statement last year calling for a strike in the factory on the 23rd of July, Revolution Day, which is already a national holiday!!!) Other rumors (and some say they read these in the papers–I haven’t) that a strike is expected to happen on the 10th of May, i.e. one day after the ultimatum is over. That’s not true either. At the moment nothing is confirmed, but the situation remains tense.
State Security police in Mahalla is already embarking on a new round of intimidation, phoning a number of the League’s activists including Kamal el-Fayoumi and Tarek Amin, showering them with threats and summoning activists for interrogation…
Please follow my Twitter account for updates. Keep your eyes on Mahalla. and Helwan, where workers have been occupying the Cement Mills for three days now.
More soon.
Police thwart doctors’ protest
The doctors’ planned protest in front of the parliament was aborted by police intervention:
Security prevented doctors from holding a protest outside the People’s Assembly on Tuesday.
The Doctors’ Syndicate had called for a protest just after midday, to coincide with Finance Minister Youssef Boutros Ghali’s presentation of the annual state budget to parliament.
Groups of plain-clothed men, some of whom were carrying truncheons or walkie-talkies, were spread out along the length of Cairo’s central Qasr El-Aini Street. Riot police had been stationed outside both parliament and the Doctors’ Syndicate.
A large number of high-ranking police officers and state security investigations officers — but no doctors — were congregated opposite parliament at 12:30 pm when the protest was scheduled to begin.
Daily News Egypt was told by state security investigations officer Hisham El-Iraqi that the protest had been banned, and that doctors had been instructed to go to the Doctors’ Syndicate. The press was ordered to leave the area in front of the parliament.
An identical scenario occurred at the syndicate, where journalists were told that they were not allowed to enter the syndicate building and could not stand in its vicinity. They were also informed that the protest had been banned.
When a journalist enquired about the reason for the ban, an officer said: “There is no reason.”