These are the real allies the Egyptian dissidents have in the West. They are NEITHER Obama, NOR European Presidents and Prime Ministers. They are the Western labor unions.
For union rights in Egypt: Solidarity with the new independent trade union
Egypt is a dictatorship which has been controlled for decades by Hosni Mubarak, a pro western leader and a key ally of Israel. His corrupt and repressive regime is currently in crisis.
Over the last few years, the country has been going through a colossal wave of workers’ struggles, beginning with a mass strike in December 2006 at the enormous textile plant in Mahalla, on the Nile delta. The regime’s response to this new movement has been predictable: repression, with arrests and tortures. Even so, they have not been able to break the struggles for union freedom, for democracy, for social justice, in solidarity with Palestine…
Last April, the real estate tax collectors’ union was created in Egypt. Fourteen months of struggles, which began with an 11-day strike, were needed to set up the first free trade union in Egypt since 1957. The Union of Real Estate Tax Authority Employees (URETAE) is the first experience of workers’ organization to be legally recognized in Egypt, beyond the state controlled single union which has dominated union organization in the country for more than half a century. Despite what has been achieved, the Egyptian regime is still working to reverse this fragile and unstable legal recognition. This is not an isolated struggle; it is part of the broader demand for the acceptance of union rights, and social and political change in Egypt.
The undersigned congratulate and express their support for the recently created Union of Real Estate Tax Authority Employees, as well as for the other mobilizations in favor of union freedom, democracy and social justice in Egypt.Solidarity group with Egyptian union struggles (Barcelona)
Cobas trade union
Banesto Workers’ Collective Assembly, Barcelona
Rosa Cañadell, General Secretary, USTEC (Catalan Teachers’ Union)
Laura Pelay, Assistant Secretary to General secretariat, UGT Catalonia
Carles Vallejo, Comissions Obreres, Barcelona Province
Saturnino Mercader, President, Works Committee, Barcelona bus service, TMB
Josep Maria Navarro, President, Sodepau (NGO)
Omar Minguillón, UGT, Iberia, Barcelona
Paco Caballero Fresneda, Diverse activities section, CCOO Catalonia
Ramiro Pàmpols, Retired member, CCOO Catalonia
Àngel Bosqued, Member, CGT
Eva Mª Durán Blanco, Journalist, Barcelona
Robin M. White, Member, CCOO
David Karvala, member of the Barcelona anti war movement
