Guest blog by David Paenson in Cairo 15 September 2012 Politics meets Economics Spent Friday afternoon with teachers’ picket in front of the education ministry. Their picket is only one among many up and down the country. Today will be their first actual national strike day. Teachers are demanding 3000 Egyptian Pounds monthly salary (300…
Leaders of the independent teachers’ unions called on their colleagues across Egypt to strike on the first day of the new school year, 15 September as teachers’ protests escalated over the past week. For the past week teachers have been encamped outside the Cabinet Offices in central Cairo, demanding an end to the ’empty promises’…
Extracts from a statement by the Egyptian Teachers’ Federation at the teachers’ sit-in outside the cabinet offices 10 September 2012 “Once again teachers have restarted their revolution, in order to demand a radical and comprehensive solution to the issue of their wages, which have declined and are the lowest not only in Egypt but across…
David Paenson in Cairo This afternoon crossed Tahrir Square, but it was quite empty. Then this surprise: The first strike day of employees of state run Middle East News Agency. I spoke to one of the strike organizers, Sherif Eltokhey. MENA, the Egyptian equivalent of Reuters, employs 1200 journalists spread around the world. 500 work…
Mahdi Abu Deeb, President of the Bahraini Teachers’ Association, and Jalila Al Salman, BTA are due in the appeal court on 9 September. Last year, the two union leaders were sentenced to 10 and 3 years in prison for taking part in pro-democracy demonstrations in 2011. Recent appeal verdicts have upheld harsh sentences against other…
From http://www.efitu.com At 6pm on Sunday 2 September, the organising committee for the campaign “Trade Union freedoms are our way to social justice”, which was launched at a well-attended meeting on 29 August. More than 200 people attended the meeting, including representatives of 33 unions affiliated to the Egyptian Federation of Independent Trade Unions, and…
Interview with Mohamed Sghaier Saihi, Assistant General Secretary of the regional union federation in Kassrine, Tunisia. We interviewed him by email on 8 August. MENA Solidarity: What are the main causes of workers’ anger in Tunisia at the moment? Mohamed Sghaier: Here are the main causes of the revolutionary process: 1- The high rate of unemployment,…
Textile workers in Mahalla al-Kubra, Egypt, are on strike. Read more here on their demands and why solidarity matters. Email us via menasolidarity@gmail.com to send a message of support from your union branch or work colleagues. Take a solidarity picture with this sign and post on facebook.com/mena.solidarity, put on twitter (@menasolidarity) or email to us International…
One of the leaders of the Mahalla strike, Kamal Fayoumi, talks about the workers’ demands in an interview on 17 July. Video transcript below We are now in Misr Spinning in Mahalla. We had our legitimate demands before the revolution. We hoped these demands would be met after the revolution. Unfortunately the Military Council made…
Over 20,000 workers at the Misr Spinning plant in Mahalla are on strike. Read more here. Video transcript below. Worker in white shirt: ‘We have four demands: an increase in bonuses, a bigger share of profits, an increase in the retirement bonus from two and a half months’. Woman worker: ‘The first thing he does…
MENA Solidarity Network 