Afaq Socialist Center is reporting a strike by mircobus drivers in Kafr Hegazi, in Mahalla.
Tag: mahalla
55,000 Real Estate Taxes civil servants to strike Sunday?
Labor sources in Egypt informed me around 55,000 Real Estate Taxes civil servants may start a national strike on Sunday, demanding improvement in their work conditions, similar to their counterparts in the other government civil service sectors. No more details are available yet. If this goes through, however, the event will be of even more significance than the September 27,000-strong Ghazl el-Mahalla strike. It’s not only about the numbers of strikers which are roughly double, but it’s also about:
1-The national scale of the industrial action, that will involve the Lower and Upper Egyptian provinces simultaneously
2-The civil servants sector is an under reported story, although according to a report by the Workers’ Coordination Committee they had the lion share in industrial actions from January to July of this year. So, in six months, the report documented 386 industrial actions: 141 among Civil Servants, 121 in the Public Sector, while 106 in the private sector.
I’ll be waiting to receive more updates about the situation, but I hope fellow bloggers and journalists are already watching closely and will keep us in the loop.
UK activists: Congrats to Mahalla
Activists in Britain sent a congrats message to Mahalla:
Dear comrades,
We have been following the recent strike actions in Egypt with great interest and wish to give our complete solidarity to those involved. Congratulations to those who have already won and best wishes to those who continue to fight.
Yours in solidarity,
Reading Grassroots Action.
(Reading Grassroots Action is an anti-capitalist group based in Reading, England.)
Thanks to all those who are following the news of the industrial struggle and spreading the word about it. Your solidarity counts for a lot. The Mahalla workers in the Nile Delta need to feel they are not alone, and that they are part of a bigger global class. What is a better way to explain internationalism to a worker in Mahalla than to tell him there are people like him or her in another continent, yet they are following what you are doing and they say they are on your side and that you inspire them. No matter how small your group or union is, a short letter of solidarity does boost the morale, as it did with the statements and letters received during the strike.
