CAIRO: The Egyptian Workers and Trade Unions Watch (EWTU) recently released their July report on industrial conflicts, showing a spike in organized labor struggles. According to the report, 17,000 workers took part in 97 labor struggles while another 100,000 threatened to stage protests. The numbers represent an increase from June's findings where 13,000 workers took part in 53 struggles and 61,000 threatened to protest. Labor struggles include strikes, sit-ins, protests, and threats to strike. The July results are the highest in years. Fatma Ramadan, who writes the monthly report, told Daily News Egypt that there have "definitely been more protests and strikes than ever before. July and August are especially active periods for two reasons. First, Ramadan says that workers expect their annual cost of living raise in July, which they sometimes do not receive. Secondly, they need to secure their basic school needs for the coming year. This year is especially active due to the successful Mahalla protests. "Laborers think this is the only way for them to attain their rights, says Ramadan, "they feel this is the only solution. Ramadan says there is no particular form of protest that is more popular or successful than others - success depends on other factors including the numbers of participants, their negotiation skills, and their location. For example, workers from different sectors who share common grievances and are geographically close to each other may converge, as what happened with postal service workers and metro workers sharing the problem of temporary employment. Other factors effecting protest or strike success include media attention and the general protest environment. Input for the reports is gathered from the media reports, internet, and interviews with workers. Beginning next month, EWTU will begin issuing summaries and highlights in both Arabic and English.
