Makram Labib, a left-wing Copt and Daqahliya Tax Collector, was one of the leading figures in the Hussein Hegazi occupation, December 2007. As the president of the Union Committee in Daqahliya, he was the only one among the remaining state-backed 10 union committee heads to side with the strike, representing Daqahliya in the Higher Committee for the Real Estate Tax Collectors’ Strike…

All differences melted during the (Hussein Higazi) sit-in. No one cared if Makram was a Copt, or if Kamal Abu Eita was a Sunni Muslim. We have to unite ourselves and protect our unity. We shouldn’t distinguish between a Sunni or a Shiite, or between a Muslim or a Christian…
We live in a state, which is republican only in name. In reality it’s a kingdom. We are living under a royal system. They (govt) tell you we are living in the age of free capitalism. But if the businessmen can form their own organizations, why can’t the workers do the same? I tell my brothers in the Real Estate Tax (Collection Agency), and in Ghazl el-Mahalla, go ahead with your project to form an independent union, may God bless you.