Success in separate, factory-based actions is raising workers' confidence that they can improve their lot, writes Serene Assir Workers have scaled up action to back their demands relating to pay, unpaid bonuses and profit-sharing to an extent unseen in Egypt since World War II. Though in proportion to the total number of workers in Egypt of those who have taken industrial action remains small, unrest in the manufacturing and service sectors has affected factory after factory. And in a country where the perceived lack of will for decisive rights- based or political action is criticised regularly events such as those played out last week at the Suez Integrated Oil Company (SIOC) buck the stereotype. While continuing to work their contracted hours, 500 employees at SIOC began a sit-in on 16 May demanding pay increases and profit share payments withheld since 1997. In addition to 10 years' worth of unpaid bonuses, they also demanded that healthcare provision meet the standards pledged in their contracts. When nothing had been done by 19 May to even discuss their claims they escalated the action, halting work altogether. In the three days during which they were on strike, SIOC Director Ahmed Alameddin contacted the workers and threatened to call in Central Security personnel to end the strike forcibly. In response the workers went on hunger strike. "We will not bend until our demands are met," striker Mohamed Refaat told Al-Ahram Weekly on the eve of the hunger strike scheduled to begin on 22 May. Response to the action followed a by- now typical pattern. The workers' Labour Union Committee, which Refaat says is unelected, abandoned the people it is supposed to represent. Then, says Refaat, Deputy Minister of Manpower and Emigration Nehad El-Ashri approached the workers, urging them to end the strike and criticising calls for a hunger strike on the grounds that it would negatively impact on workers in poor health. Though Suez Governor Seifeddin Galal reportedly threatened the workers with the use of force when contacted by the Weekly Galal denied any intention to intervene. "We protect workers' rights," he said, after expressing his surprise that the media should take any interest in the subject. A temporary halt in the hunger strike was followed by new disagreements with Alameddin and the authorities over proposals to end the crisis. Then, when Alameddin visited the plant himself, he was detained by workers. "I think that's when he really felt the pressure," said striker Mohamed Hediya. "State Security wasn't willing to play along with him. They refused to intervene because they said we weren't doing anything wrong. When he saw that, and when we held him at the plant, there was a change of mind." The hunger strike ended on 23 May and work was resumed the next day. "We felt very happy, thank God," said Hediya. "We were given an LE75 per month raise, as well as LE300 in LE100 monthly instalments in lieu of unpaid bonuses. It is not the total amount we are owed but we are content." Aside from the small but helpful raise the most important aspect of the strikers' success is that it has boosted confidence in their ability to challenge the status quo. "We are certain now of our capacity to act if things go wrong for us again," says Hediya. "We have learned a lot about how to stand up for what we believe is right through this experience. If anything goes wrong again we now know we must fend for ourselves without fear." Other strikes and sit-ins are still ongoing, including a month long sit-in at the Mansoura-España garments factory in Talkha, Daqahliya, in which women have played the leading role. According to Mustafa Bassiouni, labour correspondent for the daily Al-Dostour, recent days have seen a relative calm descend. "We should not make the mistake of interpreting this calm as a failure," Bassiouni told the Weekly. "Rather, it shows that for the workers who took action that action paid off. In other words, it is indicative of a growing number of workers' victories." One positive sign, Bassiouni said, is that the agreement reached between the ministry and the Suez workers to end the strike stipulates that none of the participants will face disciplinary action of any sort. No participant will be punished and the days during which the strike occurred will be counted as holidays. "This is impressive given the fact that the strike was illegal," notes Bassiouni. There has, till now, been no coordination between workers over direct action. The appearance of such is the result of a simple domino effect with successful action in one factory inspiring workers at another. However, at a conference at the Cairo-based Centre for Socialist Studies on 22 May, calls were made for greater coordination. "Solidarity amongst journalists, lawyers or MPs may be important to workers seeking to improve their living and working conditions," said Kamal Khalil, who heads the centre. "But much more important is for workers to be organised and be prepared to coordinate with each other." "While there is no real coordination yet workers have definitely begun to think within a rights-based framework. Though they have been making relatively small, personal-based demands till now nobody can predict how deeply the experiences they are garnering will affect them later, or to what extent they will begin to call for an overall improvement in their lives," says Bassiouni.
