A new round of negotiations, over a number of unfulfilled promises from the December 2007 occupation, took place three days ago between the leaders of the General Union for Real Estate Tax Collectors and the Finance Ministry, ended in victory.
The free union activists gave the ministry one month ultimatum to implement the agreement, threatening renewed protests if faced with delays.
The Real Estate Tax Collectors have launched the first issue of publication, Nobet Sahayan, The Awakening, and as I’m writing now, thousands of copies are being distributed among the tax collectors in virtually all the provinces.
The magazine is specifically addressing the 55,000 real estate tax collectors. It will not only be the central organ in the current fight to build the first independent trade union in Egypt in half a century, but also will voice the problems and challenges facing the tax collectors’ daily life inside and outside the workplace, and will provide updates about social events among colleagues (births, deaths, engagements, marriages, etc) to foster personal ties and solidarity among the civil servants. The magazine also includes literary contributions written by the strikers.
I’ll post the magazine when I receive it in an electronic format.