VZCZCXRO1883
PP RUEHHM RUEHJO
DE RUEHEG #0356/01 0391330
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 081330Z FEB 07
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3519
INFO RUEHXI/LABOR COLLECTIVE
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CAIRO 000356 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ELA, DRL 
LABOR FOR ILAB 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB ECON PGOV PHUM EG
SUBJECT: WILDCAT STRIKES HIT EGYTPIAN TEXTILE FACTORIES 
 
REF: 06 CAIRO 7256 
 
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Summary 
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¶1. (SBU) Thousands of textile workers have initiated wildcat 
strikes throughout Egypt's industrial heartland in recent 
weeks, demanding the same concessions exacted by striking 
workers at Egypt's largest public sector textile factory last 
December (reftel).  Strikes have also taken place in the 
transport and agriculture sectors, among others.  Police 
action against the illegal strikes has thus far been limited, 
but the prospect exists for more severe clashes.  The Ghazl 
El Mehalla strike, and its aftermath, has ignited strong 
demands from workers for more independence from the 
NDP-controlled national trade unions.  End summary. 
 
---------------------- 
Textile Workers Strike 
---------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Thousands of textile workers, in multiple Nile Delta 
textile factories, have taken wildcat strike action in recent 
days.  The protests have included work stoppages and sit-ins, 
and, in one instance, workers are threatening to go on hunger 
strike.  In El-Behera, an estimated 10,000 workers at the 
Kafr El-Dawar Spinning and Weaving Factory are striking to 
demand increased salaries and bonuses.  The workers' demands, 
posted outside the factory gate, include: a bonus payment of 
one-and-half months salary, increased monthly incentives, the 
firing of the company's Chairman, and GOE payment of the 
company's accumulated debts (of approximately USD 260 
million). 
 
¶3. (SBU) The prospects of privatization also loom large over 
the disputes.  In Shebeen El Kom, approximately 4,000 workers 
angry with the imminent takeover of the factory by a foreign 
investor (Indian multi-national Andurama) began on January 31 
a sit-in strike demanding payment of bonuses prior to the 
handover.  As of February 6, the parties had not reached a 
resolution.  The new investor formally took over control of 
the factory on February 1. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Common among the various textile strikes is the 
demand for a bonus payment commensurate with the 45-day 
bonuses paid to striking workers at the Ghazl El-Mehalla 
Textile in December 2006 (reftel).  On February 6, striking 
workers at the Delta Textile Company factory in Zefta called 
off their protest after exacting a 45-day bonus from 
management.  The workers said they would resume their strike 
if not paid within four days.  Approximately 9,000 workers 
from the El Beda Company and Artificial Silk Company 
factories initiated strikes on February 5 demanding the same 
deal. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Police presence at the strikes has been evident, 
although serious violence has been avoided.  According to 
some worker-sympathetic blogs, police "karate teams" have 
been brought in to wrest control of factory gates.  Some 
labor rights advocates are also accusing police of trying to 
"starve the workers out" by prohibiting family members from 
bringing striking workers food and drink. 
 
------------------------------ 
"The Revolution of the Hungry" 
------------------------------ 
 
¶6. (SBU) Providing a backdrop, and perhaps guidepost, for the 
series of recent wildcat strikes is the ongoing dispute at 
Ghazl El Mehalla, Egypt's largest public sector factory with 
over 27,000 workers. Despite the government concessions that 
ended the December wildcat action, employee complaints 
persist about unfair treatment and the role of the factory 
council (local union) heads.  Workers accuse the factory 
heads of having sided with the employers in the December 
unrest and of existing merely to implement the governing 
National Democratic Party (NDP) agenda. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Workers from Ghazl El Mehalla recently traveled to 
Cairo to present a petition bearing 13,000 signatures to the 
national General Union for textile workers demanding the 
impeachment of the factory council and new elections.  If the 
demands are not met, the workers have threatened to resign en 
masse from the recognized union and form a movement 
independent of the national trade union federation, thereby 
contravening labor organization laws.  The Egyptian Trade 
Union Federation (ETUF), founded in 1957, is the sole legal 
 
CAIRO 00000356  002 OF 002 
 
 
national trade union federation.  If undertaken, the move to 
form an independent union, although previously threatened by 
groups including the Muslim Brotherhood, would be 
unprecedented. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Workers' spokesman Mohamed El-Attar calls the 
movement "The Revolution of the Hungry," drawing reference to 
the low salaries the workers receive.  Among the other chief 
complaints are charges of corruption and vote-rigging in 
union elections and poor sanitary conditions in the factory. 
El-Attar claims the workers have a constitutional right to 
form an independent union, and that the current union 
leadership are merely stooges of the NDP and therefore 
illegitimate. 
 
------------------------- 
Strikes Hit Other Sectors 
------------------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) In addition to the unrest in the textile factories, 
workers in Egypt's railroads, poultry farms, hospitals, and 
trucking companies have also carried out unauthorized strike 
action in recent days.  Locomotive operators, joined by 
sympathetic subway drivers, protested the non-payment of 
bonuses to incapacitated drivers by going on strike in 
Cairo's central train station.  The strike shut down a main 
commuter route for several hours and forced GOE concessions. 
 
¶10. (SBU) On February 5, truck drivers protesting an increase 
in tolls on the Cairo-Ain Soukhna Road (a gateway road to the 
Red Sea Province), barricaded toll stations with their trucks 
and brought traffic to a standstill.  According to some 
reports from bloggers and human rights NGO's, talks with 
police eventually broke down and police clashed with the 
protesters.  The trucks eventually dispersed but it is 
unclear whether or not the toll dispute is ongoing. 
 
¶11. (SBU) Three-thousand workers at the Cairo Company for 
Poultry engaged in a multi-day strike on February 4 over 
management's refusal to pay workers compensation for 
work-related hazards related to avian influenza, in addition 
to demands for salary increases to compensate workers for 
rising food prices.  Workers called off the strike to give 
workers' representatives, trade union officials, and company 
management an opportunity to negotiate a compromise solution. 
 Workers have refused to cash their paychecks until the 
parties reach an agreement. 
 
-------------- 
Where's Aisha? 
-------------- 
 
¶12. (SBU) Minister of Manpower Aisha Abdel Hady has been 
noticeably absent from the discussions over the latest 
strikes.  Despite her direct involvement in brokering the 
El-Mehalla deal, Abdel Hady has not yet become overtly 
involved in the current disputes.  This may be due to recent 
travel to Riyadh, where she engaged the Saudis on issues 
related to the large Egyptian expatriate workforce there. 
Observers believe Abdel Hady, who takes pride in her shop 
floor roots, will soon enter the fray. 
 
 
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COMMENT 
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¶13. (SBU) Regardless of whether the Ghazl El-Mehalla workers 
carry out their threat to form a union independent of ETUF, 
their rhetoric alone is a serious challenge to the GOE to 
address their grievances, and casts an unflattering  light on 
NDP dominance and manipulation of the established labor 
structure.  Ghazl El-Mehalla is Egypt's largest public sector 
factory, and workers elsewhere appear to be taking their cue 
from the El-Mehalla events and are pressing for demands 
without the blessings of the established factory councils. 
Aside from some reports of violent strike-breaking, police 
action thus far appears to be restrained.  However, since 
these strikes are illegal under Egyptian labor law, and are 
hitting a vital industry, prolonged stoppages will likely see 
an intensification of police action. 
RICCIARDONE