Hagga Aisha Abdel Aziz, an independent trade unionist at El-Hennawi Tobacco Company (based in Damanhour, a Nile Delta province south of Alex), is now subject to a wtichhunt from the govt-dominated Egyptian Federation of Trade Unions.
Aisha, a worker in her 40s, led her 350 female and male colleagues in series of industrial actions in the factory over the bonuses unpaid since 2003. Aisha also collected 250 signatures from the workers, demanding the impeachment of the rest of the members of the Factory Union Committee, who are pro-management, and who are trying to pressure the workers into a compromising deal. The struggle to impeach those union bureaucrats culminated in a demonstration on 5 August in front of the Ministry of Social Affairs…
Now, the General Union for Food Industries bureaucrats are retaliating against Aisha.. A decree has been issued last week, suspending her “trade union activities,” and she will be “investigated” (still don’t have the exact date and timing.)
Labor activists fear this will be the first step towards sacking her from the company..
Express your solidarity with Aisha by sending statements denouncing the crackdown, to the Labor Ministry, which basically controls the Trade Unions in Egypt:
manpower@mome.gov.eg