CAIRO: Red flags were waving yesterday as thousands of Egyptians celebrated Labor Day in Cairo's Tahrir square. Workers from different factories across Egypt, the newly founded Federation of Independent Labor Unions as well several leftist parties rallied to celebrate their new freedoms. Ahmed El-Borai, Egypt's minister of manpower and immigration, announced last month that Egyptian workers will have the right to establish independent labor unions. This marks an unprecedented level of organizational freedom in Egypt's long history of labor struggles. However, the Egypt's first celebration Labour Day after the resignation of former President Hosni Mubarak was above all about the challenges ahead. While demonstrators shouted enthusiastically, many bystanders felt confronted with an unfamiliar idea. “What is this communism, is it a religion?” asked an older man skeptically. However, after he learned about the demands of the protest, he embraced them zealously. Although leftist groups have been a central part of the opposition movement, it is unique that they can rally so openly for their cause. Noha Wagdi, a pharmacy student follows the developments with interest. “I think I am rather leftist, and I am here to inform myself about the political parties so that I can decide which party I would like to join,” she explained. Noha will have a wide variety of parties too choose from as the number of socialist parties is growing rapidly. Among the parties present at yesterday's rally were the Workers Democratic Party, the Socialist Popular Alliance, the Egyptian Socialist Party, the Communist Party and the Revolutionary Socialists. One of the key issues of debate seems to concern the role of the state within economic development. Whereas the Workers Democratic Party pledges for the re-nationalization of large parts of the formerly privatized industry, others are demanding a limited role of the private sector in autonomous development. However, beyond those abstract debates, many workers are interested in an immediate improvement of their living conditions. One of the key demands is to raise the monthly minimum wage, currently set at 400 Egyptian Pounds (about $70) to 1200 Egyptian Pounds (about $200). Wages should be tied to the rising inflation, they argued. Moreover, the protesters are demanding the maximum salary set at about 15 times the minimum wage. These demands stand in the tradition of Labor Day, which is celebrated to commemorate a General Strike in the United States in 1886, which began on May 1. The strike was largely led by immigrant workers from Germany, Ireland, France, Poland and Russia. It was part of a wider series of uprisings inspired by the Paris Commune in 1872. One of the slogans at that time was “Bread or Blood.” The protesters achieved the latter, as the state clamped down on the movement, killing dozens and wounding hundreds. Exactly 125 years after the American army brutally crushed the uprisings, the key demand of the workers in 1886, “A day on which to begin to enjoy eight hours for work, eight hours for rest, eight hours for what we will” has still not materialized for many Egyptian workers. While the radicalization of millions of Egyptians during the revolution offers an unprecedented opportunity for the Left to mobilize, it also struggles to connect to the large sections of protesters that remain deeply distrustful of political organizations. “Neither the government nor the political parties, the revolution is from the people” was one of the chants that were shouted yesterday. A group of protesters attacked the construction of a large stage that was provided by the Labor Union for musical entertainment. Many people felt alienated from an organization providing expensive infrastructure. Tensions were eventually eased but the incident seems to illustrate a gap between the organized left and many newly radicalized demonstrators, which has yet to be bridged. Salma Said, an activist involved in the mobilization for May 1 told Bikya Masr that “I think this is a good lesson for politicians to be closer to the streets. When we are talking about workers we need to look like workers, we have to be workers.” BM
