After 50-year hiatus, Egypt's first independent labor union is born

Jano Charbel

Thu, 03/03/2011 - 10:38

Mahalla Textile Worker Kamal al-Fayoumi Speaks at conference

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Photographed by Jano Charbel

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The Preparatory Conference for the Egyptian Federation of Independent Unions held on Wednesday marks thebirth of Egypt's first independent trade union federation since 1957.

Several hundred workers, professionals and labor activists from across the country cheered what they anticipated would amount to impending death for the state-run Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF). For more than five decades, the ETUF has acted as the only federation of its kind allowed by law. ETUF President Hussein Megawer, along with other federation officials, has undergone investigation on charges of administrative corruption and union fund mismanagement following the ouster of former President Hosni Mubarak.

The new union falls within a larger context of political restructuring and the creation of new political parties following the 18-day uprising that began on 25 January. Workers and employees are capitalizing on the momentum by restoring their right to unionize and staging protests to demand long-ignored rights.

The ETUF claims a nationwide membership of over 4 million workers, most of whom are employed in the public sector. Owing to allegations of corruption, mismanagement, and misrepresentation, however, the state-controlled federation's is declining and the organization is on its way to becoming obsolete. Indirect elections had handed members of Mubarak's ruling party the presidencies of 22 out of 24 general unions within the ETUF.

Labor-leader Kamal Abu Eita declared the official inauguration of the independent federation, and added "from here we announce the downfall of the yellow Egyptian Trade Union Federation!" In response, a crowd of workers chanted "Oh Megawer, go away! Go away! Let unions see the light of day."

The formation of the independent federation was initially announced on 30 January, but its structure, membership mechanisms, electoral guidelines and bylaws are still being formulated. The Egyptian Federation of Independent Unions currently includes: the Real Estate Tax Authority Employees' Union, the Egyptian Health Technologists' Syndicate, Federation of Pensioners, and the Independent Teachers' Syndicate, all of which were established in the last two years.

Elsewhere across the country, an untold number of workers are organizing their own independent associations--leagues, unions, syndicates and federations--outside the framework of the ETUF.

Other workers have announced they will be joining the ranks of the new independent federation. These include tens of thousands from the Mahalla Textile Company, the Public Transport Authority (bus drivers, conductors, mechanics, engineers and employees across Cairo), national postal workers, the Helwan Iron and Steel Complex, and the industrial workers in the town of Naga' Hamadi.

Thousands in private sector enterprises, including industrial workers from the cities of Tenth of Ramadan and Sadat, have also expressed their intention to unionize and join the Egyptian Federation of Independent Unions.

"We have some 5,000 factories in the Tenth of Ramadan City, yet only 13 of these have unions,” lamented a worker-delegate who attended the conference.

Nearly all the worker-delegates who spoke at the conference expressed their support for the 25 January revolution and democratic demands. Speakers also mentioned that workers' protests and strikes assisted in ousting Mubarak, and that such actions must be allowed to continue as part of the ongoing fight for democracy.

Salah Abdel Salam, President of the Real Estate Tax Authority Employees' (Branch) Union in the Daqahliya Governorate, emphasized that the ETUF, along with Egypt's labor and trade union laws "denied us the right to strike or protest… or to establish our own independent unions." Abdel Salam added that independent unionization will help realize a new minimum wage law of LE1200 per month (US$215) and safeguard the right to peaceful strikes and protests.

Abu Eita explained to workers, "All that you need in order to unionize is to collect notarized signatures from your co-workers and submit them, along with documents pertaining to the establishment of your union, to the Ministry of Labor. You don't have to ask, or wait, for the approval of Megawer's federation to establish an independent union in your workplace."

In the lobby outside the conference hall, a labor lawyer addressed dozens of workers. “Since the Constitution and the legislation of the old regime are suspended,” he said, “we are entitled to organize ourselves in line with conventions of the International Labor Organization (ILO) which Egypt has ratified." His voice grew louder. "We are entitled to organize ourselves on the levels of workshops, factories and companies across the country; and on the basis of our industries, neighborhoods, towns, cities and governorates,” he added.

The lawyer was referring specifically to ILO conventions concerning “Freedom of Association & Protection of Right to Organize” (No. 87) and the “Right to Organize & Collective Bargaining” (No. 98). Though Egypt ratified the conventions in 1957 and 1954, respectively, it has failed to uphold them.

Egypt's Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq resigns

3 March 2011 Last updated at 11:18 GMT

Mr Shafiq was appointed days before President Mubarak was forced out of office

Egypt's Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq has resigned, the country's ruling military council has announced in a statement.

A former transport minister, Essam Sharaf, has been asked to form a new government, the statement adds.

Mr Shafiq was appointed days before President Hosni Mubarak was forced out of office following days of anti-government protests.

Protesters saw Mr Shafiq as too closely associated to Mr Mubarak's rule, observers say.

"The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces decided to accept the resignation of Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq and appointed Essam Sharaf to form the new government," the army said in a statement on its Facebook page.

Mr Shafiq was appointed by Mr Mubarak just days before he stepped down on 11 February after several weeks of popular protests against his rule.

It had been one of the protesters' key demands that Mr Shafiq and other top ministers appointed at the end of the Mubarak rule step down.

Analysis

Alastair Leithead BBC News, Cairo

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President Mubarak may have gone, but the protests in Cairo have been continuing as people have been demanding the "old guard" of politicians step down. At the top of their list was Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik.

As a result his resignation, announced by the Armed Forces Supreme Council on its website, has been broadly welcomed by opposition groups. But a big demonstration is still planned for Friday in Tahrir Square where hundreds of people have been camping out.

The appointment of Essam Sharaf as the new prime minister is designed to placate them.

He's a former transport minister who opposed Mr Mubarak's government after stepping down from the cabinet, and supported the revolution.

The response from those demanding more change has been mixed, with some saying all politicians who served under Mr Mubarak should go while others think the new administration should be allowed to get on with the job of constitutional reform and elections.

Mr Sharaf's appointment is significant as he spoke out in support of the revolution and took part in the street protests, says the BBC's Alastair Leithead in Cairo.

It is a major step towards appeasing the demonstrators who have continued to camp out in Tarihr Square, as Mr Sharaf was a vocal opponent of the Mubarak government since his resignation as a minister five years ago, our correspondent adds.

Travel ban

The military council, which has been running the country since Mr Mubarak stepped down, has previously ordered the government to run the country's affairs for six months "or until the end of parliamentary and presidential elections" and is also examining constitutional reforms.

On Monday, Egypt issued a travel ban on ousted President Mubarak and his family.

Mr Mubarak is believed to be living in his villa in Sharm el-Sheikh, but in poor health, and has not been seen or heard of publicly since stepping down.

Yemen president backpedals on anti-US remarks

Yemen's Sahel expresses 'regret' over his own remarks towards US, Israel following rebuke from White House.

Middle East Online

Forever faithful to the US WASHINGTON - Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh called a senior White House aide Wednesday to express regret over his searing criticism of Israel and the United States over Arab uprisings, officials said. Saleh called President Barack Obama's top anti-terrorism advisor John Brennan a day after the White House complained he was scapegoating, after he said Arab uprisings were an Israeli plot backed by Washington. "President Saleh called assistant to the president John Brennan this morning to convey his regret for misunderstandings related to his public remarks that Israel and the United States have engaged in destabilizing activities in Arab countries," the White House said in a statement. "President Saleh also said that he is firmly committed to meaningful political reform in Yemen and that he is reaching out to opposition elements in an effort to achieve reform through a democratic, inclusive, and peaceful process. "Mr Brennan expressed appreciation for the call and said that any comments that seek to attribute blame for recent developments in the region are unhelpful, as they ignore the legitimate aspirations of people in the Arab world. Brennan also encouraged Saleh to continue with his to reach out to opposition groups, amid mass protests against his rule in Yemen and called on all sides of the political dispute to eschew violence.

Revolution against ‘corrupt’ Polisario regime

‘The Youth of the Sahrawi Revolution’ calls for March 5 protest to reform ‘corrupt’ Polisario Front leadership in refugee camps.

Middle East Online

By Saad Guerraoui - LONDON

Abdel Aziz long rule under the spotlight The separatist Polisario Front is facing a mounting criticism on social media by its own youth who are emboldened by the popular uprisings across the Arab world. A group of young Sahrawis of refugee camps have issued a call via social networks to stage protests against corruption with the Polisario leadership on March 5. The movement, which calls itself “Juventud de la Revolución Saharaui” (The Youth of the Sahrawi Revolution), calls for reforming the Sahrawi system and corrupt leadership and reviving the values of the Sahrawi revolution. The Polisario regime has been leading a broad campaign to discredit the revolution group, especially among public opinion, taking advantage of refugee camps’ isolation from the outside world amid the absence of Internet in them, said the movement’s statement. "As corrupt regimes tired to distort the Arab youth-led revolution in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya, the Sahrawi regime tries and some of its aides are trying to engage in this campaign. Thus, we condemn this blasphemous campaign and announce to the local public and international opinion our commitment to staging a peaceful demonstration on March 5 in front of the presidential palace. Our silence on the current situation is a betrayal of the souls of the martyrs and an insult to our people’s sacrifices," added the statement. The protest will coincide with the 35th anniversary of the establishment of the first Saharawi government. Some activists claimed that the Polisario leadership threatened to arrest and jail those who will take part in the protest. The revolution group warned the leadership against any irresponsible crackdown on protesters. It called for the support of all international human rights organisations, and urged them to heed the special circumstances in the Saharawi refugee camps. The Executive Committee of Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Río de Oro expressed its full solidarity with the "The youth of the Sahrawi Revolution" initiative to "achieve justice, democracy, change and reform within the Polisario Front." The Committee said that the challenge of youth to Polisario's leadership is "the only hope left, after the leadership tried to kill hope and dream,” urging protesters not to be scared as “they will fall like leaves.” Morocco annexed Western Sahara after Spain withdrew in 1975. The Algeria-back Polisario Front has demanded a self-determination referendum, while Morocco has offered greater autonomy. Front guerrillas fought Moroccan forces until a UN-brokered ceasefire came into effect in 1991. However, no progress has been made in bringing the two sides together. The latest round of talks in New York between the Polisario Front rebels and the Moroccan government failed to end their three-decade-old deadlock. The Sahrawi refugees’ plight has seen relatively stagnant for the last 35 years due to the lack of basic facilities in the camps. Sahrawi activists accuse Polisario leader Mohamed Abdelaziz of neglecting their case and engaging in pointless political maneuvering. They criticised the leadership’s way of handling the financial aid donated by Algeria and other international organisations, accusing a number of leaders of profiteering and corruption at the expense of the refugees.

Tunisia frees last political prisoners

Tunisian prisons 'emptied of political prisoners' weeks after fall of Ben Ali's authoritarian regime.

Middle East Online

Demand met: 'freedom for all the prisoners' TUNIS - Tunisia freed Wednesday the last of its political prisoners under an amnesty granted after the fall president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January, a prisoner rights activist said. The remaining prisoners were released in batches since Monday under an amnesty that came into force on February 19, said International Association for the Support of Political Prisoners secretary general Samir Ben Omar. "The last political prisoners in Tunisia were freed on Wednesday," Omar said, adding they included people charged under the previous regime's terrorism laws. "In total about 800 political prisoners have been freed in groups since Monday evening," he said. "Between 300 and 400 were freed on Wednesday," he said, adding: "Tunisian prisons have been emptied of political prisoners." The amnesty was announced on January 20, nearly a week after the fall of the authoritarian Ben Ali in an uprising that sparked similar protests across the Arab world. It applied to "all those who were imprisoned or prosecuted for crimes as a result of their political or trade union activities," the official TAP news agency reported. Justice authorities had said days before the amnesty became official that about 3,000 prisoners had been conditionally released. The announcement of the amnesty was one of the first acts by the interim government appointed when Ben Ali ended his 23 years in power on January 14 by fleeing to Saudi Arabia. Among those who were freed were "victims of the terrorism law applied by the Ben Ali regime to say that it was at the forefront of the fight against terrorism," Omar said. They included Saber Ragoubi, a Salafist Muslim sentenced to death for terrorism, he said. He and his co-accused were found guilty of involvement in clashes with security forces between December 2006 and January 2007 that left 14 people dead, including a security agent, according to the official toll. Ragoubi had denied the charges and Amnesty International said his trial had been unfair and he said he was tortured in custody. Eight of his co-accused were sentenced to life in prison and 19 others to jail terms of up to 30 years. Most were found guilty of assassination and belonging to a terrorist group whose leaders, a Mauritanian and three Tunisians, were killed in the clashes. Omar said around a dozen ordinary prisoners also sentenced under terrorism laws remained in prison and his organisation would continue to raise their cases with the authorities. Some of the political prisoners freed earlier have told of torture and bad treatment. Some died in jail and others were missing, Tunisia's Association to Combat Torture has said. The new administration has also opened the way for the legalisation of political groups banned under Ben Ali and the return of exiles. Islamist movement Ennahda (Awakening) announced Tuesday it had finally been granted legal status, 30 years after it was formed. Thousands of Islamist activists and sympathisers were among those arrested in the 1990s, as Ben Ali's government claimed to be tackling extremism, and many went into exile. Despite introducing unprecedented freedoms and pledging elections by mid-July, the interim administration has been heavily criticised, facing weeks of protests including over its inclusion of key figures from Ben Ali's regime. Interim prime minister Mohammed Ghannouchi, who held the same post under Ben Ali, quit on Sunday after clashes at weekend anti-government demonstrations left five people dead. Two ministers followed him on Monday and three more on Tuesday.

In Bahrain uprising, there’s no turning back

First Published: 2011-03-02

Bahrain's pro-democracy movement locked in deepening standoff with ruling dynasty.

Middle East Online

By Natacha Yazbeck - MANAMA

Capturing iconic moments of Bahrain's struggle for democracy Bahrain's ruling dynasty and an anti-regime movement are locked in a deepening standoff, and both sides agree there is no turning back as protesters continue to hit the streets in their thousands. The Shiite-led opposition said it wants to join the dialogue proposed by Crown Prince Salman following deadly protests, but only after the government resigns. An official said on Wednesday the government's patience "has its limits." "The situation in Bahrain is now irreversible. The regime knows it cannot turn back, and the opposition will certainly not back down," Ali Fakhro, a political analyst and former education minister, said. "I think the government is well aware that there is a problem that must be dealt with and that ignoring the demands of protesters... will only give rise to the same problems again." A string of popular uprisings against regimes across the Arab world has spilled over into the majority Shiite kingdom of Bahrain, a strategic US ally that is just a boat ride from Iran. Since February 14, thousands of mainly Shiite protesters have daily taken to the streets of the capital Manama, home of the US Fifth Fleet, to demand the fall of the Sunni al-Khalifa dynasty which has ruled unchallenged for 200 years. Calls to end decades of oppression and rights deprivation They are also calling for major reforms to end what they say are decades of oppression and rights deprivation. The tiny archipelago carries special significance as it neighbours Saudi Arabia, which has its own Shiite minority concentrated in Eastern Province, close to Bahrain. The Shiite-led coalition of Bahraini opposition groups is adamant in demanding the resignation of the government before the wide-reaching talks offered by Crown Prince Salman. "Our primary demand is the resignation of the current government and its replacement with a government of national salvation," said MP Jalil Khalil, head of the Shiite Al-Wefaq parliamentary bloc which is spearheading the seven-group opposition alliance. Such a government should be "formed of technocrats representing both the Sunni and Shiite communities," he said. "The opposition has not refused dialogue," said Khalil, whose bloc resigned from parliament in protest at the killing of seven demonstrators last month. "It is seeking guarantees before heading to the table, including a deadline and the clear outlining of the steps that will be taken, such as the implementation of the national charter." Bahrain's National Action Charter was passed in 2001 following a referendum, as part of a package of reforms introduced by King Hamad, ending a 1990s Shiite uprising and restoring the country to constitutional rule. But a year later a new constitution was adopted by royal decree, expanding the king’s powers and establishing the Shura consultative council, an upper chamber in parliament appointed by the king with the right to block legislation passed by the lower elected chamber. In response to demonstrations, King Hamad charged his son, Crown Prince Salman, with launching dialogue, a move the anti-government camp has dismissed as insufficient. Abduljalil al-Singace of the opposition Haq movement, who was among a group of political activists freed in a royal pardon last week, has warned of more bloodshed if the government ignores the protesters' demands. "My anticipation is that the situation will lead to more bloodshed if they continue to turn a blind eye on the protesters in the street," he said. But a government official accused the opposition of refusing to respond to the regime's attempts to reach out. "Continuing this sit-in and refusing to respond to the government's calls for dialogue will exhaust our patience and is causing losses in trade and the economy," said the official, requesting anonymity. "We have been calling for dialogue for 15 days and the opposition has not heeded that call," the official said. "Our patience has its limits."

Pro-sultan Omanis in support drive

First Published: 2011-03-02

Mixed feelings in Muscat: protestors support Sultan Qaboos, but accuse some government officials of corruption.

Middle East Online

Pro-Sultan, anti-corruption MUSCAT - Hundreds of Omanis demonstrated on Wednesday in support of Sultan Qaboos as more than 400 activists camped outside the Gulf state's consultative council, continuing a series of anti-corruption protests. A procession of some 200 cars drove from central Muscat to the Al-Alam Palace, one of the residences of Qaboos who has ruled Oman since 1970. "With our blood and souls, we sacrifice ourselves for you, sultan," chanted demonstrators in cars festooned with portraits of Qaboos. Meanwhile, some 50 people camped outside Oman's consultative council on Wednesday protesting against corruption and demanding higher wages. Their number later swelled to more than 400. The protesters, who set up three small tents outside the council, held banners reading: "No to corruption, no to favouritism." No police presence was reported as the demonstrators vowed to stay until their demands are met by the government. "Our demands are rightful as Omani citizens,"said one protester, Muaweya Rashdi, a day after the army tanks peacefully dispersed a four-day protest in the northern industrial city of Sohar after at least one protester was killed in clashes with police. "We are demanding higher wages and social security benefits... We want transparent figures," said the electrician who receives a monthly salary of 200 riyals ($519). In a move aimed at addressing protesters' grievances, Qaboos has announced the creation of 50,000 new jobs and a monthly allowance of 150 riyals (390 dollars/283 euros) for registered job seekers. He also ordered the formation of a ministerial committee to draw up proposals to meet calls for the elected consultative council to be given more powers. On Wednesday, Qaboos told the 83 members of the consultative council that he intends to "introduce reforms soon," and "promised to expand the authorities" of the elected council which has no legislative powers, said a council member. Qaboos also considered protesters who are demanding reforms as "children of Oman who should be treated wisely," he added. Last month, Oman raised the minimum wage for nationals working in the private sector from $364 to $520. Normally placid Oman is the latest country to be hit by the wave of popular protests that has rattled several Arab countries and swept from power the leaders of Tunisia and Egypt. Mass demonstrations also threaten the regimes of Bahrain, Libya and Yemen. Oman guards the strategic Strait of Hormuz through which 40 percent of the world's oil supply passes and Muscat is a key Western ally in the region. Iran borders the waterway's northern flank.