CAIRO: Vows to protect workers rights and pledges to improve the living standards of Egypt s massive blue collar class are almost a daily fixture in media headlines. This year s celebrations of Labor Day, observed in Egypt on May 1, however were marred by protests, recriminations and to some, plain old nonchalant apathy. This year s celebrations come at a time of global turmoil and changing winds for the workers, as labor strikes, protests, and sit-ins continue in state-owned industrial facilities in a number of cities outside Cairo. Carieans, however, seem to be largely unaware of the industrial tensions taking place outside the hectic capital, with many simply thankful for a day off work. All I care about is that it is a public holiday. I heard something about the workers protests, but I don't follow the news regularly, said Ahmed Essam, a 24-year-old computer science graduate working for a multinational company in Cairo. As a matter of fact, the great majority of young people interviewed by The Daily Star Egypt expressed little knowledge of the protests; supporting the general notion that the younger generation is, as a rule, getting less and less interested in politics, and more and more interested in a consumer driven, quasi-western lifestyle, while at the same time being faintly aware of the social and economic problems in their immediate surroundings. I heard about the strikes only from opposition newspapers and satellite TV channels, but I don't think they are a big deal. We've always had these tensions in Egypt when it came to anything that involved a large number of people, like moving the vegetable market from Rod El Farag to El Obour, said Khalid Ahmed, a 22-year-old engineering student, as he held an iPod and a mobile phone in one hand and a large, Styrofoam cup of coffee in the other. But that will not prevent me from enjoying the holiday, as I am planning a two-day trip to Sharm El Sheikh with friends. Life goes on! he said laughingly. May Nabil, 20, who studies business administration however, said she has been following the news on the workers protests, adding that protests were expected in light of increasingly difficult economic circumstances and technological advancements. Upgrading industrial facilities is a must for the economy, but at the same time, all workers who face losing their jobs as a result of the use of technology which reduces need for labor, should get training and education to rehabilitate them to get new jobs, she said. Older people interviewed by The Daily Star Egypt expressed more skepticism and mistrust. Sayeed Mahfouz, a 55-year-old car mechanic, lashed at privatization efforts and accused the shift to a capitalist economy of destroying the social fabric of society. It is a question of what came first, the chicken or the egg, he said. The government wants to sell these factories because it does not have money to upgrade them, or train workers. At the same time, the workers got used to low productivity and fear that new owners might ask them to work longer hours. Both sides are to blame, he said. Workers in food, textiles and construction material factories have been protesting plans by the government to sell the factories which have persistently incurred losses to private owners, who the workers say, threaten to lay off a large number of workers and significantly reduce the benefits received by the rest. Analysts told The Daily Star Egypt the government is expected to continue to closely monitor the situation but without the likelihood of trying to break up the protest with the use of force because they do not want to provoke acts of reprisal that could disintegrate to sabotaging the industrial facilities at the heart of the crisis.
