I called Kareem el-Beheiri in Mahalla.. He says the strikers’ numbers have exceeded 20,000. The Central Security Forces siege that started last night has now been withdrawn. Instead the factory is surrounded by State Security Police agents. CSF are expected to show up pretty soon though.
Kareem managed to take photos of the early hours of the strike…
And as one notice, just like the case of the December 2006 strike, there’s strong presence of women workers from the garments sections…
Here are the workers’ demands put on piece of paper…
1- Impeaching the company board chairman
2-Impeaching the Factory Union Committee officials
3-Linking the monthly incentives to a fixed percentage of the monthly basic salary
4-Increasing the food allowance to match in the increase in prices
5-Raising the salaries to match the increase in prices
6-Paying the workers 130-day as part of their annual share of profits
7-Solving the transportation crisis
8-Paying the workers housing allowances
And fantastic pic of a worker who’s carrying a banner that reads: “We will not be silent. We are not afraid… We can’t even find the bread.”
And here are videos shot by Kareem using his mobile phone…
Excellent job Kareem!
More reports from other labor activists inside the company should be coming soon…
My heart and thoughts go out to the Mahalla strikers…
that’s nearly the whole factory!
great – yes, dear men women – stand up and fight for your rights – which are trampled under foot again and again for such a long time!!!
I sent a message to the Clean Cloth Campaign: http://www.cleanclothes.org/
In a globalized world we need to fight together !!!
it’s moving…wow!!!!
once more…the workers of ghazel el ma7alla will relaunch the worker’s mvt that decreased during this 2 months…!!
do u think that this may encourage the workers of hennawi to start a solidarity mvt with Hagga Eicha in her battle against the owners of the factory in the court?
isnt this just strange?
you are in the US and you can keep up with the events of mahala, i am in cairo and i know so little about , i really envy you ya za3ama
p.s:نورت المدونة عندي وإبقى كررها
davinca:
the whole factory has not stopped, and is occupied by the workers. If you have any contacts with activist organizations that can issue statements of solidarity please get in touch with them.. Or at least forward info about the strike and post it on your blog to raise awareness internationally about what’s happening in Egypt
Farah:
If they win in Mahalla, that will definitely empower the rest of the workers in the textile sector and others to move, just like what happened last year.
alzaher:
ما أنا قلتلك أنا زي فخامة الرئيس مبارك.. حتى لو برة البلد الأخبار بتيجي على التيليفون أول بأول…
مباحث أمن العرباوي
Thanks for making this information available. Here’s a short URL for this page that won’t break up in emails, etc.:
http://tinyurl.com/2j8qjk
Thanks Aaron