FT-CI

Daily News Egypt - 10-02-2011

Telecom Egypt workers protest in front of the company building on Ramsis Street

09/02/2011

Thousands of workers continued their protests Wednesday across Egypt demanding better pay and work conditions and expressing solidarity with protesters in Tahrir Square.

Telecom Egypt workers protest in front of the company building on Ramsis Street

By Tamim Elyan / February 10, 2011, 12:20 am

Protesters’ demands included the appointment of staff on temporary contracts, change in the administrations of their respective organizations, enhancing the wage system and ending corruption.
In Cairo, the Independent Syndicate for Real Estate tax Workers organized a protest in front of the Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF), demanding the resignation of Hussein Megawer, ETUF’s head, along with the federation’s board.
“The federation has become a center for fighting the activities of labor syndicates. Now we are demanding the investigation in its corruption and demanding the resignation of its board and allowing workers to form their independent syndicates freely,” said Kamal Abu Eita, head of the first independent syndicate in Egypt.
Hundreds of Telecom Egypt workers protested in front of Ramsis Exchange and obstructed the vital Ramsis Street demanding better wages and the resignation of the board members of the company and the communications syndicate.

Workers said that their monthly wages, around LE 600, have remained unchanged for more than 20 years while sector heads are paid LE 30,000 and the deputy heads of the company are paid LE 250,000 per month.
Five-thousand post workers protested in front of the Egypt Post Authority demanding the appointment of workers on temporary contracts and ending corruption in the authority.
“They cut our incentives by 50 percent in favor of consultants appointed from the military who receive more than LE 20,000 a month. They are refusing to appoint more than 4,000 temporary workers,” said Sameh Mohamed, a worker at the Post Authority who has been on a LE 600 monthly salary for the past 20 years.
Soha Ahmed, on a temporary contract since 1996, said she was denied permanent appointment although her colleague, who started working in 2001 received a starting salary of LE 4,000 per month.
“We are demanding investigations into illegal salaries that heads of sectors receive and the unfair appointments of new employees with high salaries while older ones are being ignored because of favoritism and corruption,” Soha said.
Tens of workers at the General Authority for Medical Insurance and Al Hilal Hospital protested demanding better wages and the appointment of more than 24,000 temporary workers.
Two-hundred workers at the General Authority for Pharmaceutical Drugs Monitoring organized a sit-in in front of the authority’s headquarters in Agouza demanding minimum wages of LE 1,200 and the appointment of temporary labor.
In Giza, Petrotrade’s workers protested in front of the company demanding equality with the rest of the company’s employees in incentives and revenue shares.
In Helwan, thousands of workers at Interment, Esenbro, Helwan Silk and Al-Nasr companies went on strike demanding better wages, better working conditions and healthcare.

The mostly female staff at the Egyptian Animal Health Research Center staged a demonstration on the center’s front step calling for the immediate resignation of the director, Mona Mehrez.
“She’s totally corrupt,” claimed one doctor, “She used the money allocated for studying and preventing avian flu to build personal villas in Cairo and Alexandria.”
Other members of the strike cited poor working conditions and nepotism as reasons for the protest. Of the approximately 150 workers 45 were chanting when the director’s car pulled up, saw the protest, then sped off causing a sudden cheer.
“The only reason she has her position is because her brother works in the Health Minister’s office,” claimed one middle-aged doctor wearing a white lab coat.
Having informally discussed the situation the previous day the protest was unplanned. When a small group of the protesters was asked if they were striking until the director resigned they seemed unsure. “This director takes a paid trip to the US and Europe every month, she’s got to go.”

The Center for Trade Union & Workers’ Services (CTUWS) reported numerous protests across the country.
In Mahalla, Ghazl Al Mahalla textile workers organized an open sit-in in front of the company’s administration demanding overdue promotions and the resignation of the company’s CEO, Foad Abdel Aleem, due to the huge losses of the company under his reign.
In Kafr Al Zayat, 1,500 workers at the city’s public hospital organized a sit-in inside it and were joined by doctors demanding the payment of late incentives.
In Sadat City in Menufya Governorate, 750 workers at Schweppes Beverages company organized a sit-in demanding better wages, receiving their payment for vacation days since public protests on Jan. 25, receiving their periodical raise, better incentives and better working and professional safety conditions.
Eight-hundred Nile Textiles workers organized a sit-in in front of its headquarters demanding better wages, a daily one-hour break and allowing them the vacation time dictated by law as they are only allowed one day-off per week.
The company’s owner, Mohamed Marzouq, gave the workers a vacation till Saturday in response, closed the company’s doors and ordered the company’s buses not to transport the workers.
In Suez, 400 workers at Egypt National Company for Steel went on a strike demanding better wages and said they haven’t receive any incentives for years.
In Ismailia, hundreds of workers at Al-Temsah and Harbors companies, affiliated with Suez Canal Authority, organized a sit-in in front of the company’s headquarters demanding the parity of wages and incorporating their companies with the authority.
They called for the 7,000 workers of the five other companies affiliated with the authority along the Canal in the cities of Port Said, Suez and Ismailia to join them in the sit-in.
Workers at Ismailia Governorate, Ismailia’s cultural center and Irrigation and Sanitation Authority organized protests demanding better wages and the payment of late incentives.
"The amount of protests reflects the dire conditions that Egyptian workers go through and their feeling of frustration since these problems directly affect their families’ livelihoods," Abu Eita said.
"Workers have always led the Egyptian protests movement and are participating heavily in Tahrir Square protests," he added. –Additional reporting by Troy Carter.

Related articles

No hay comentarios a esta nota

Newspaper

  • PTS (Argentina)

  • Actualidad Nacional

    MTS (México)

  • EDITORIAL

    LTS (Venezuela)

  • DOSSIER : Leur démocratie et la nôtre

    CCR NPA (Francia)

  • ContraCorriente Nro42 Suplemento Especial

    Clase contra Clase (Estado Español)

  • Movimento Operário

    MRT (Brasil)

  • LOR-CI (Bolivia) Bolivia Liga Obrera Revolucionaria - Cuarta Internacional Palabra Obrera Abril-Mayo Año 2014 

Ante la entrega de nuestros sindicatos al gobierno

1° de Mayo

Reagrupar y defender la independencia política de los trabajadores Abril-Mayo de 2014 Por derecha y por izquierda

La proimperialista Ley Minera del MAS en la picota

    LOR-CI (Bolivia)

  • PTR (Chile) chile Partido de Trabajadores Revolucionarios Clase contra Clase 

En las recientes elecciones presidenciales, Bachelet alcanzó el 47% de los votos, y Matthei el 25%: deberán pasar a segunda vuelta. La participación electoral fue de solo el 50%. La votación de Bachelet, representa apenas el 22% del total de votantes. 

¿Pero se podrá avanzar en las reformas (cosméticas) anunciadas en su programa? Y en caso de poder hacerlo, ¿serán tales como se esperan en “la calle”? Editorial El Gobierno, el Parlamento y la calle

    PTR (Chile)

  • RIO (Alemania) RIO (Alemania) Revolutionäre Internationalistische Organisation Klasse gegen Klasse 

Nieder mit der EU des Kapitals!

Die Europäische Union präsentiert sich als Vereinigung Europas. Doch diese imperialistische Allianz hilft dem deutschen Kapital, andere Teile Europas und der Welt zu unterwerfen. MarxistInnen kämpfen für die Vereinigten Sozialistischen Staaten von Europa! 

Widerstand im Spanischen Staat 

Am 15. Mai 2011 begannen Jugendliche im Spanischen Staat, öffentliche Plätze zu besetzen. Drei Jahre später, am 22. März 2014, demonstrierten Hunderttausende in Madrid. Was hat sich in diesen drei Jahren verändert? Editorial Nieder mit der EU des Kapitals!

    RIO (Alemania)

  • Liga de la Revolución Socialista (LRS - Costa Rica) Costa Rica LRS En Clave Revolucionaria Noviembre Año 2013 N° 25 

Los cuatro años de gobierno de Laura Chinchilla han estado marcados por la retórica “nacionalista” en relación a Nicaragua: en la primera parte de su mandato prácticamente todo su “plan de gobierno” se centró en la “defensa” de la llamada Isla Calero, para posteriormente, en la etapa final de su administración, centrar su discurso en la “defensa” del conjunto de la provincia de Guanacaste que reclama el gobierno de Daniel Ortega como propia. Solo los abundantes escándalos de corrupción, relacionados con la Autopista San José-Caldera, los casos de ministros que no pagaban impuestos, así como el robo a mansalva durante los trabajos de construcción de la Trocha Fronteriza 1856 le pusieron límite a la retórica del equipo de gobierno, que claramente apostó a rivalizar con el vecino país del norte para encubrir sus negocios al amparo del Estado. martes, 19 de noviembre de 2013 Chovinismo y militarismo en Costa Rica bajo el paraguas del conflicto fronterizo con Nicaragua

    Liga de la Revolución Socialista (LRS - Costa Rica)

  • Grupo de la FT-CI (Uruguay) Uruguay Grupo de la FT-CI Estrategia Revolucionaria 

El año que termina estuvo signado por la mayor conflictividad laboral en más de 15 años. Si bien finalmente la mayoría de los grupos en la negociación salarial parecen llegar a un acuerdo (aún falta cerrar metalúrgicos y otros menos importantes), los mismos son un buen final para el gobierno, ya que, gracias a sus maniobras (y las de la burocracia sindical) pudieron encausar la discusión dentro de los marcos del tope salarial estipulado por el Poder Ejecutivo, utilizando la movilización controlada en los marcos salariales como factor de presión ante las patronales más duras que pujaban por el “0%” de aumento. Entre la lucha de clases, la represión, y las discusiones de los de arriba Construyamos una alternativa revolucionaria para los trabajadores y la juventud

    Grupo de la FT-CI (Uruguay)