To download this article as a leaflet click here Since the revolution of 2011 nearly 1000 independent trade unions have been created in Egypt. Under the old regime, the sole legal trade union was the Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF), which was controlled by the state. The independent unions have been at the heart of…
Vice-president of the Bahraini Teachers’ Association, Jalila al-Salman recorded a video message for the MENA Solidarity Network event in Parliament ‘Teachers and the Arab Spring’. The audience also heard from resigned Bahraini MPs Ali Alaswad and Jawad Fairouz about the repression faced by teachers and other activists over recent months and the torture suffered by…
Workers in the Bticino factory Sadat City began a sit-in strike on 11 November according to the Egyptian Federation of Independent Trade Unions (EFITU). Up to 800 workers occupied the factory, which produces electrical components for building automation and entry systems, in protest at management’s decision to force them to take open-ended leave after they…
Egypt’s doctors have been on strike since 1 October. They are fighting for a raise in state spending on health, improvements in their pay and conditions and action by the government to end violent attacks on healthworkers in the workplace. Despite a massive smear campaign by the media and constant attacks by the Muslim Brotherhood…
By Mary Compton From Teachersolidarity.com This week I have been meeting leading members of the independent teachers unions in Egypt and learned about their struggle for properly funded public education. The visit, with other trade unionists, was organised by the Middle East and North Africa Solidarity campaign, which invited me to come along on behalf…
A delegation of activists from UK and Irish trade unions visited Cairo 29 Oct-4 Nov with MENA Solidarity network. Ian Bradley an electrician and UNITE union activist; Mary Compton from the NUT and Teachersolidarity.com; Colm Bryce, a UCU activist in Derry, and Anne Alexander from MENA Solidarity Network took part in the visit. If you…
Teachers and the Arab Spring Eyewitness reports from Tunisia, Egypt and Bahrain Monday 12 November, 7.30pm Committee Room 8, House of Commons, SW1A 2TT Speakers: Mohamed Sghaier Saihi: UGTT union federation, teachers’ spokesman in the Kasserine region Mary Compton: NUT activist and editor of Teachersolidarity website, recently returned from a delegation to Egypt Ali Alaswad:…
Mahdi Abu Deeb, president of the Bahraini Teachers’ Association was sentenced to 5 years in prison on 21 October, while BTA vice-president Jalila al-Salman faces a jail term of six months. They were arrested for supporting protests and strikes in February 2011 calling for democratic reform in Bahrain, and tortured into confessions. Amnesty International called…
Students at the University of West Kordofan in Al-Nohood City mobilised protests on 14 October, against electricity blackouts in the city, cuts in public services and the rising cost of living. Sudanese activists told MENA Solidarity Network that the demonstration was suppressed violently by the security forces and police, assisted by students of the National…
Guest post by Mohamed Sghaier Saihi, UGTT union federation executive member, Kasserine province Tunisia has seen waves of strikes and protests against the policies of the Islamist Ennahdha Party in recent months. In the Kasserine region, for example we saw general strikes in Majel Bel Abbès two months ago, in Thala three weeks ago, in…
MENA Solidarity Network 