The Egyptian Workers and Trade Unions Watch issued its report on labor struggles during the first week of July.
Tag: workers
Congrats!
I’d like to send a big MABROUK to Ad-Dostour labor correspondent and friend Mustafa Bassiouny, who finally joined the Press Syndicate with his colleagues yesterday.
In a relatively short time period, Mustafa managed to ascend the ranks of the country’s labor correspondents, and in my view, has become the top in his field with the best coverage of the industrial action. I call Mustafa to tell him about some strike going on, only to find him there by the factory already!! I ask Mustafa about a conflict in a factory, and just like a computer, he starts reciting the history of the factory, when it was built, how many strikes happened before, salaries of workers, bonuses, this, that, this, that… He’s a labor-encyclopedia walking on two legs. I envy him!
[Above: Mustafa in front of El-Sayyed El-Badawi Mosque in Tanta, during a trip organized by left-wing journalists to report on armed clashes between peasants and landlords in the Nile Delta Gharbeia province. Photo by Hossam el-Hamalawy, April 2005.]
Mabrouk ya Darsh!
Mixed signals from Mahalla
I’m getting mixed signals from my Ghazl el-Mahalla sources about the workers’ response to the agreement reached between the government officials and the labor leaders.
While the majority asserted that the agreement was an acceptable compromise for the rank and file, one source told me the agreement was not good enough and that the plan to carry on with the 21 July strike is still on.
However, I honestly doubt the ability of the latter source and his faction to mobilize successfully for the strike, since the labor activists who brokered the agreement have a bigger weight and influence on the factory floor.