By In the last five years, more than 1,500 strikes and sit-ins have been staged in this country, with more than two million workers taking part. In most cases, the workers made professional demands, in the main pressing for better wages and benefits. Much of the current discontent owes its roots to the early 1990s when the government signed an agreement on structural adjustment with the IMF. As a result, the conditions of workers have deteriorated over the past 20 years. Due to structural adjustments, prices went up while wages were kept deliberately down. The result was a net loss of real income for the working men and women of this country. All around us, we see working families struggling to make ends meet, toiling to give their children a decent education. To address this issue, we need minimum wages in this country. This is no longer a luxury. In fact, a recent court ruling has called for such a move. The government may choose to ignore labour's demands, but at its own peril. Labour has gained confidence from its engagement in industrial action. Our workers, and even government employees, now know that they cannot get ahead by acting alone. Labour will win, but first it has to press for its demands through sit-ins and strikes. As many of you have noticed, official labour unions straddled the fence during recent industrial actions. Indeed, some of them asked workers to return to work before their demands were met. Disgusted by the reaction of official syndicates, workers began forming independent syndicates, such as the one in Mahala. This tendency to form independent syndicates is likely to grow. Politics is next. Having found their voice, it will not be long before labour asks for democracy as well. The day will come when labour groups demand not only their financial rights but their political ones as well. A new phase of workers' struggle and protests is upon us. Expect workers to soon form organisations. And expect them to demand democracy -- not just bread. This week's Soapbox speaker is deputy director of the Arab Research Centre.
