This is an article from the current issue of Middle East Solidarity magazine – help us continue our work by donating £2 for a digital copy online For a region struggling with ongoing wars, conflicts and sanctions, and the toll of perpetual economic and political instability, the spread of Covid-19 poses a major threat to…
A campaign by UCU members at the University of Liverpool and University of Cambridge, which was backed by hundreds of academics from across the UK and Egypt Solidarity Initiative, has won a significant victory. According to leaked documents published on the Academic Freedom Watch website, the University of Liverpool was worried about the potential for…
Demonstrations again filled Egypt’s streets on 27 January 2012, in a show of anger against the ruling military council. Enormous protests on 25 January filled Tahrir Square and cities across Egypt, dominated by chants for the end of military rule. Groups of workers have been prominent in the streets, with dozens of factories announcing before…
One year ago in Tunisia workers were playing a vital role in the protests sweeping the country against the Ben Ali regime. “The trade unions’ role is one of the most striking aspects of the December protests”, wrote the Tunisia expert Christopher Alexander in the magazine Foreign Policy. On the 7th January thousands of lawyers…
A public transport strike last week in the Tunisian capital, brought the capital virtually to a halt, with 80% of all bus and metro workers on strike the city came to a standstill. The strike was called for by the new independent Union for Public Transport Workers, the assistant General Secretary of the union Hassan…
A series of hospital strikes gripped Aleppo late in July, following the arrest of one doctor at a hospital in the city. The strikes started with 100 resident doctors going on strike at El-Razi hospital in Aleppo on 26 July, after their colleague, dentist Ayman Henawy, was arrested by security forces at the hospital. Aleppo…
Over 9000 civil registry workers in Egypt announced a nation-wide indefinite strike at the end of July. The strikes gradually swept through Egypt from Cairo and Giza to Alexandria and Aswan, until a nation-wide indefinite strike to include all 26 provinces was announced on the 27th of July. The striking workers are demanding their wages…
Industry in Ismaliya has been paralysed over the past 5 days with workers in 20 factories on strike. A military crackdown on the workers left 36 injured and led to 10 arrests. Read more here.
Hearing about the attack on Tahrir and the horrific assault on the martyrs’ families and their supporters brought back memories of meeting some of these brave people in May. The picture here shows members of the martyrs’ families who the British Trade Union delegation met in Tahrir Square on 1 May. We have no idea…
Thousands of Egyptian workers have been involved in strikes over the past week, greeting the start of Ramadan with protests and occupations over wages and conditions at work. Over 500 millworkers from both the Aswan and Ko Ombo Mills, ended their strike on Friday after negotiations with the Mayor of Aswan led to promises to…
MENA Solidarity Network 