Tag: pigs

Release the Mahalla Five! فلنتضامن مع معتقلي المحلة.. يسقط مبارك

Posted on By 3arabawy

I’ve spoken with a Socialist activist in Mahalla…

Five strike leaders are now in Mubarak’s police custody, locked up in Abu Ali Police Station in Mahalla, after the State Security Prosecutor ordered them imprisoned for four days pending investigation into charges levelled against them by the state-owned company management, that include sabotage, inciting riots, and causing the company losses that amount to LE10 million!!

The five are: Muhammad el-Attar, Faisal Laqousha, Wael Habib, Magdi Sherif, Gamal el-Saadawi.

I asked the Socialist activist what was the impact of the arrests on the strikers, and he assured me this got the workers into a more militant mood. “They are now saying even if they win their demands, they are not disbanding their strike without the release of their colleagues,” he said. “Now the release of the detained leaders has topped all other demands. The government may also be trying to reach a settlement with the strikers in the absence of those leaders, as an attempt to sideline them. In my view, this will probably fire back, because now the state has turned these detainees into heroes.”

Down with Mubarak’s Police.

Kafr el-Dawar set to strike tomorrow; Five Mahalla labor leaders charged

Posted on By 3arabawy

I received a new message from a Socialist journalist with updates on Kafr el-Dawar and Mahalla.

Here’s an English translation…

I’ve spoken with leaders in Kafr el-Dawar, and they said there will be a solidarity strike tomorrow (Tuesday) morning, and that the 12,000 workers in Kafr el-Dawar have added a set of demands specific to their conditions, like upgrading the factory hospital; restructuring the company bus service, as there are 70 buses in the company, almost all beyond expiry; looking into the problem of delayed promotions for a big number among them. During my talk with one of them, he told me there was a state of jealousy regarding the Ghazl el-Mahalla workers, and the men in Kafr el-Dawar want to prove they can do the same, as well as expressing their solidarity of course, and pressuring for their own demands.
The latest from Mahalla…
Five labor leaders were summoned to the State Security Prosecutor, on charges of sabotage and instigating riots. The workers are: (Muhammad) el-Attar, Faisal Laqousha, and three other workers you don’t know. I’ll bring you their names soon. The important thing is the workers are still on strike for the second day on the row. And now they added a new demand, which is the release of the five workers.

It’s 5:30am now in Oakland. I gotta get some sleep. I hope other bloggers and journalists will keep us updated.

My heart and thoughts go out to the Mahalla and Kafr el-Dawar workers.

State Security Prosecutor summons Ghazl el-Mahalla labor leaders for interrogation

Posted on By 3arabawy

I spoke with Kareem el-Beheiri around three and half hours ago, and he assured me the morale is extremely high among the strikers. Thousands of them were sleeping over in the factory. Kareem was then rushing to upload the videos and the pix of the strike.

He also said Mubarak’s Central Security Forces troops are still unseen around the factory since their retreat on Saturday night after it became clear the strike was to proceed on the following morning. However, Kareem said the place is swarmed with plainclothes State Security Police agents, as well as agents from the Mukhabarat… Yep, in case you didn’t know Mahalla has an office for the Mukhabarat (the agency which is entitled with foreign security issues) since it’s considered a “strategic city” since the days of Nasser. These Mukhabarat agents show up when there are strikes or signs of discontent. It goes to show the power and strength of Mahalla, and the fear it constitutes to the Egyptian ruling class.

Kareem also said he was verbally threatened by a State Security agent, after he shouted against the government and the president.

I also spoke with Muhammad el-Attar and el-Sayyed Habib after I hung up with Kareem. Both have virtually lost their voices from exhaustion and from chanting in the marches. Both are keen on seeing international solidarity coming on their behalf, and are personally requesting in the name of the 27,000 Ghazl el-Mahalla workers that international labor organizations and unions express an urgently needed solidarity.

More worryingly, Attar told me he’d been summoned to the State Security Prosecutor’s office, together with Faisal Laqousha, and two other labor activists (I could hardly hear the names, as Attar’s voice was weak and I was standing by the train station where there was so much noise). Attar doesn’t know the charges yet to be leveled against him and his comrades.

I’m calling once again on labor activists around the world to issue statements of solidarity. The security crackdown on the strikers may well be underway.

Down with Mubarak’s Police… Victory to the Mahalla Strikers…