September 23, 2007
Posted by yaman
15,000 factory workers strike in Egypt
Hossam is posting frequent updates regarding a huge strike of over 15,000 textile workers at the Ghazl el-Mahallah textile factory in Egypt. According to him, this is the largest textile factory in the Middle East, with over 27,000 workers. The Egyptian government has declared the strike “illegal,” potentially opening the way for a police confrontation with the strikers. As far as I know, the Western media has yet to pick up on this story.
Factory workers, male and female, strike together as they occupy the factory compound. Image is from the Egyptian Workers blog. Click for more info.
Among other things, the strikers are asking for the union and factory leadership to be sacked and for increases in salaries and food allowances to match price inflation. Threatened with government interference, the strikers are looking for statements of support from international labor organizations, as well as coverage of their strike from international media. The state-owned company that owns the factory is the Misr Spinning and Weaving Company, which exports internationally. For more information, on labor activities at this factory, read this informative report in MERIP.
If anybody knows of any ways to determine who the clients of this factory/company are in the United States, now would be a good time to uncover them so that we can apply local pressure in support of the strikers.
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