I received a statement signed by “Kafr el-Dawar Workers for Change,” declaring solidarity with Ghazl el-Mahalla workers.
Here’s an English translation:
Kafr el-Dawar workers are in the same trench as Ghazl el-Mahalla
We the textile workers of Kafr el-Dawar declare our full solidarity with you, to achieve your just demands, which are the same as ours. We strongly denounce the security crackdown which prevented the (Mahalla) workers delegation from traveling to stage a sit-in at the General Federation of Trade Unions’ HQ in Cairo. We also condemn Said el-Gohary’s statement to Al-Masry Al-Youm last Sunday, where he described your move as “nonsense.” We follow with concern what is happening to you, and declare our solidarity with the garment-making workers’ strike the day before yesterday, and with the partial strike in the silk factory.
We like to you know, we the workers of Kafr el-Dawar and you the workers of Mahalla are walking on the same path, and have one enemy. We support your movement, because we have the same demands. Since the end of our strike in the first week of February, our Factory Union Committee has not moved to achieve our demands that instigated our strike. Our Factory Union Committee has harmed our interests… We express our support for your demand to reform the salaries. We, just like you, await the end of April to see if the Minister of Labor will implement our demands in that regards or not. We do not put much hope on the Minister, though, as we haven’t seen any move by her or the Factory Union Committee. We will depend only on our selves to achieve our demands.
Thus, we stress that:
1- We are sailing with you on the same boat, and will embark together on the same journey
2- We are declaring our full solidarity with your demands, and assert that we are ready to stage solidarity action, if you decide to take industrial action.
3-We will move to inform the workers of Artificial Silk, El-Beida Dyes, and Misr Chemicals of your struggle, and create bridges to expand the solidarity front. All workers are brothers during times of struggle.
4-We have to create a wide front to settle our battle with the government unions. We have to overthrow those unions now, not tomorrow.