LABOR UNREST RETURNS TO NILE DELTA

UNCLAS CAIRO 002887 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/ELA (NAFZIGER) AND DRL/IL (ANZALDUA) LABOR FOR ILAB (SHEA) E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ELAB ECON PGOV PINR EG SUBJECT: LABOR UNREST RETURNS TO NILE DELTA REF: A. 06 CAIRO 7256 ¶B. CAIRO 1595 AND PREVIOUS Sensitive but unclassified. Please handle accordingly. -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. (SBU) Up to 24,000 workers at one of Egypt's largest public textile factories, Ghazl el Mehalla, have been on strike since September 23 demanding unpaid bonuses, pay increases, and changes in company and factory union leadership. The GOE has deemed the strike illegal although security interference has been largely limited to the detention of several strike leaders after a scuffle between workers and a union representative. Negotiations have not yet borne fruit, and some smaller solidarity strikes are underway, including in a nearby textile factory. Ghazl el Mehalla was the scene of some of the largest strikes in recent Egyptian history in December 2006 (ref A). End summary. -------------- On Strike in el Mehalla -------------- ¶2. (SBU) An estimated 24,000 workers are currently taking illegal strike action at the state-owned Ghazl el Mehalla textile factory in Egypt's Nile Delta region. The factory was the scene of mass strikes in the winter of 2006 that shed light on Egypt's malfunctioning trade union structures and spawned copycat actions in several sectors throughout the country. The workers walked off the job on September 23, protesting the non-delivery of concessions gained during the December 2006 strikes, and demanding wage levels to meet increasingly higher prices for basic commodities. Unlike in previous large strikes, neither Minister of Manpower Aisha Abdel Hady nor Minister of Investment Mahmoud Mohieldin has become directly involved in mediating the dispute as of September 24. The protest is centered on the public Talat Harb Square across from the factory gates, with workers overnighting in the open air and being joined by family and others for the performance of special Ramadan rituals. ¶3. (SBU) In addition to criticizing the National Democratic Party (NDP)-controlled trade unions as not representing worker interests, the workers are also voicing opposition to the GOE's overall privatization policies, chanting "We will not be ruled by the World Bank! We will not be ruled by colonialism!" Solidarity strikes among other public textile factories have begun, with textile workers from another Nile delta factory, Ghazl Kafr el Dawwar, announcing their plans to join the strike by Tuesday. Opposition organization Kefaya's "Workers for Change" group announced that it was mobilizing demonstrations of solidarity at the South Giza Grain Mills near Cairo. ¶4. (SBU) NGO contacts monitoring the strike told us that the uniformed police presence was light throughout the day on September 23 but increased with the approach of iftar (the breaking of the Ramadan fast at sunset). Leftist bloggers with contacts among the strike leaders are reporting that the city is "swarming" with plainclothes police, however. The strike has been primarily peaceful, although some workers reportedly roughed up the head of the factory's Workers Union Committee Sedik Siam on September 23 during an attempt by Siam to dissolve the strike. Siam escaped with minor injuries. Workers had cast a vote of no confidence in Siam before beginning the strike. -------------- Strike Leaders -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Mohamed el Attar, a textile worker who emerged as a prominent leader of the December 2006 Mehalla strike, and who was subsequently threatened by company management with relocation to Alexandria (reftel),is once again playing a prominent role among strike leaders. Striking workers report that an Egyptian State Security Prosecutor (SSP) summoned el Attar and four other strike leaders, Faisal Lekoush, Wael Habib, Mohamed Abo el Esaad, and Magdy Sherif, for questioning at 1000 a.m. on September 24, ostensibly with regard to the attack on Siam. The three strike leaders were released soon thereafter and emerged with twelve defense attorneys at their side, according to an NGO contact. However, the release was only a temporary reprieve to allow the leaders to break the fast with their families, and police subsequently returned the five to detention where they spent the night. As of OOB September 25, the five were still in police custody. Contacts also tell us that the SSP summoned two journalists from opposition newspaper El Wafd for questioning under the accusation that they were involved in inciting the strike. -------------- MB Meddling? -------------- ¶6. (SBU) The Muslim Brotherhood is expressing solidarity with the striking workers, although their direct input to the action appears limited. MB MP Saber Aboul Fattouh expressed his full solidarity with the striking workers, called on the Minister of Manpower and Minister of Investment to respond immediately to the workers' demands, but also reaffirmed the independence of the striking workers from any political movement. According to press reports, MB MP's Saad El Hussainy, Magdy Ashour, Mohamed el Adly, and Yehia el Messairy have joined with other opposition parliamentarians have demanded that the Peoples Assembly work to contain the crisis, and that the GOE live up to its promises made during last year's strikes. State-controlled MENA wire service quoted an anonymous "unionist source" as blaming the MB of being behind the strikes, although one of the prominent strike leaders, Karim el-Beheiri, complained on a leftist blog of "the weak solidarity coming from the Muslim Brothers. They are hardly noticed. But I can see virtually all other political forces present." -------------- The Demands -------------- ¶7. (SBU) The Ghazl el Mehalla workers passed out leaflets printed with the following demands: ¶1. Impeachment of the company's Chairman of the Board. ¶2. Impeachment of the factory's Union Committee officials. ¶3. Linking monthly incentives to a fixed percentage of the monthly basic salary. ¶4. Increasing the food allowance to match the increase in food prices. ¶5. Salary increase commensurate with increased prices. ¶6. Paying the workers a one-off 130-day payment as part of their annual share of profits. ¶7. Solving the transportation crisis. ¶8. Paying the workers' housing allowances. JONES