Tag: neoliberalism
Kefaya calls for referendum on privatization, blasts corruption in new report
From the Daily Star Egypt:
The Kefaya Movement for Change has taken a stand this week against the privatization of state-owned properties, calling for a national referendum before any further sales can take place.
The activist group, whose public support has dwindled in the last two years, claims that the country’s privatization program has been marred by rampant corruption. They argue that many properties have been sold for far less than their actual value to investors with the right political connections. In this environment, they say, the state no longer has the legitimacy to sell Egypt’s public enterprises without first consulting the people.
Kefaya’s demands were raised in a new report released by the group, entitled “No to the Sale of Egypt.”
Mansoura workers attack factory sale, sit-in reaches day 20
The Daily Star Egypt reports on the Mansoura-España Garments Company workers sit-in:
Since April 21, the Mansoura Spanish Garment Factory in the Nile delta has been occupied by almost 300 mainly female workers, who are staging a sit-in on the plant’s shop floor after a dispute with management over missed pay and the controversial sale of the company.
Workers say they are too poorly paid to meet many of their basic needs, a problem made worse by the failure of the company to pay them their last 17 bonuses since 1999. Additionally, they are concerned that the factory may close after a recent announcement that it was sold through a process they condemn as lacking transparency.
The protesters, many of whom recently spoke with foreign visitors while wearing dark niqabs, say they remain committed to the factory occupation despite a deal offered by Aisha Abdel Hady, the Minister of Manpower and Labor, on Tuesday May 8. According to sources on the factory union committee, which negotiated the offer, Abdel Hady agreed to pay the workers one month salary out of the Ministry budget in exchange for an immediate end to the protest.
The local union committee, which is supposed to represent the employees of Mansoura Spanish, accepted the deal without consulting them. Upon learning the details of the offer, workers rejected it. Initial media reports claimed that 70 percent of the protesters had accepted the offer and ended the sit-in, but those reports were not consistent with the scene on the shop floor.
And here’s a video taken by the anti-corruption watchdog Shayfeencom: