More than 500 trade unionists and activists from around the world have signed the Emergency Statement on Egypt, initiated by trade unionists in the UK affiliated to MENA Solidarity. Signatories to the letter include Labour MP John McDonnell, and representatives from dozens of different trade union bodies. Nick Grant from the National Union of Teachers…
Emergency statement on Egypt – initial signatures were handed in on Wednesday 21 August, but we will continue to send through protests after that date. Last update: 7 September We are appalled by the killing of hundreds of protesters by the Egyptian security forces and army during the forced dispersal of supporters of former president…
By Maggie Falshaw [Update: 19 April – solidarity message from UCU members at Westminster Kingsway college] School teachers in Tunis are planning one day strikes in secondary and primary schools on Wednesday 17th and Thursday 25th April respectively. The strikers’ demands are for a pay increase, as rampant inflation has considerably lowered the value of…
Vice-President of the Bahraini Teachers’ Association, Jalila al-Salman addressed the annual conference of the National Union of Teachers on 2 April. NUT national executive member Nick Grant told MENA Solidarity Network that Jalila’s speech brought delegates to their feet in a standing ovation. “She told me at breakfast that she still has hearing and vision…
Secondary school teachers across Tunisia are preparing for strike action on 22 and 23 January. The Secondary School Teachers General Union, which is part of the UGTT union federation is demanding changes to the school curriculum and improvements in pay and grading for teachers. In a statement on 8 December, the union attacked the government…
The UGTT union federation, which represents hundreds of thousands of Tunisian workers, has called a general strike on 13 December in response to attacks on its offices by thugs affiliated to the ruling Islamist Ennahda Party. (Read the full statement here in French) Mohamed Sghaeir Saihi, deputy secretary of the UGTT’s regional executive in the…
MENA Solidarity Network has organised for Mohamed Sghaier Saihi, spokesperson for the teachers’ union in the UGTT union federation in the Kasserine region of Tunisia, to visit the UK at the invitation of the Ealing and Oxford local associations of the National Union of Teachers. Read more on Kasserine’s struggle since the Tunisian revolution here.…
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…
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…
MENA Solidarity Network 