VZCZCXRO8897
RR RUEHHM RUEHJO RUEHPOD
DE RUEHEG #1595/01 1491455
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 291455Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5405
INFO RUEHXI/LABOR COLLECTIVE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CAIRO 001595 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA (NAFZIGER), DRL(ANZALDUA) 
LABOR FOR ILAB (RUDE) 
NSC FOR WATERS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB ECON PGOV PHUM KDEM EG
SUBJECT: LABOR STRIKES: GOE APPROACH UNSUCCESSFUL IN 
STEMMING PROTESTS 
 
REF: CAIRO 1283 AND PREVIOUS 
 
Sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect accordingly. 
 
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Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) Unsanctioned industrial actions continue to spread 
throughout Egypt. The GOE thus far has chosen to deal with 
the various strikes on a case-by-case basis rather than 
pursuing a broader labor dialogue, a tactic that has been 
successful in conciliating some striking workers, but cannot 
address the larger issues of shrinking real wages, fears of 
privatization, and complaints of a union structure that does 
not represent worker interests.  Although the overall economy 
has yet to be affected by the actions, increased or prolonged 
labor unrest could ultimately harm investment.  There is a 
real prospect for increased strike actions in the coming 
months.  End summary. 
 
---------------- 
More of the Same 
---------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Unsanctioned industrial actions, while still 
generally smaller than last December's textile strikes 
(reftel), continue to spread throughout Egypt.  Over 500 
workers at a Suez cooking oil factory went on hunger strike 
on May 22 after the factory owner threatened police action to 
break up a week-long sit-in protest.  The factory workers are 
demanding increased pay and promised bonuses.  A worker's 
sit-in at the Mansoura-Espana Garments Company is entering 
its fourth week, with 150 workers sleeping on the factory 
floors and relatives supplying food and water.  In early May, 
over 3,000 workers from the public Transport Authority 
threatened a general strike demanding pay increases and 
better benefits, and briefly prevented buses from departing 
one of Cairo's major bus terminals.  Approximately 1,000 
workers from Cairo's Metro Authority (subway system) joined 
the threat of a general strike, although the Ministry of 
Transport negotiators were able to open discussions and avert 
the action.  Egypt Air flight attendants have also threatened 
work action over pay and benefits. 
 
------------------------ 
GOE Approach Not Working 
------------------------ 
 
¶3. (SBU) Despite new and ongoing strikes, the GOE has thus 
far continued to deal with the various strikes individually, 
seeking an appropriate blend of concessions and security 
force coercion to end the actions.  The director of a leading 
Cairo-based human/labor rights NGO told Emboff that while he 
welcomes the direct intervention of the Ministers of Manpower 
(MOMM) and Investment in negotiating ends to the various 
strikes, the GOE's "case-by-case" approach will not end the 
strikes.  The ongoing labor disputes will not be resolved, he 
says, until the GOE implements some specific mechanism, aside 
from the failing national union structure, to address worker 
demands across the economy.  A local International Labor 
Organization (ILO) official told us that the GOE's 
"firefighting" approach is likely encouraging new strikes 
while at the same time sapping the attention and energies of 
the relevant ministries away from employment creation 
objectives. 
 
¶4. (SBU) A senior official in the Ministry of Manpower told 
Emboff that while the ministry is seeking to engage all 
interested parties, including the unions, workers's 
representatives, factory management, etc. when a dispute 
arises, the ministry plans to maintain its "case-by-case" 
policy and does not see the need to engage in a broader 
social dialogue with workers.  "If after our intervention the 
workers strike again," the official told us, "then we will 
realize it was not successful.  But if there are no strikes, 
then they must be satisfied." 
 
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"Silly Groups" 
-------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Although striking workers cite anger over paltry 
wages, shrinking benefits, unpaid bonuses, and fears of 
privatization as the root causes of the unrest, Secretary 
 
CAIRO 00001595  002 OF 002 
 
 
General of the Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF - 
Egypt's sole legal trade union federation) Ibrahim el-Azhary 
recently ascribed the disquiet to non-governmental 
organizations that wish to stir up trouble. He said in a 
recent press interview that these "silly groups" are not 
giving ETUF "a chance" to defend workers' rights amid claims 
that "they don't trust us."  The Minister of Manpower has 
echoed el-Azhary's sentiments in numerous public statements. 
 
--------------- 
MB Raises Voice 
--------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood (MB) continues to 
seek to associate itself with the plight of workers, despite 
their traditional weakness among labor and the assertions 
from many striking workers that politics has no role in labor 
unrest.  Peoples Assembly MB MP Abdul Halim Hilal submitted a 
formal written question to the Ministers of Manpower and 
Social Solidarity regarding the GOE's recent shuttering of 
the Center for Trade Union and Worker Services (CTUWS) 
(reftel).  Hilal stated that the move was "in violation of 
international covenants" and "an attack on freedoms and civil 
society," and he called for an immediate reopening of the 
CTUWS to "help workers restore their violated rights." 
 
------------------------------- 
Update on Mehalla Strike Leader 
------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Reftel reported on the emergence of Mohamed El 
Attar, leader of the December 2006 Mehalla textile strike, as 
a potential mouthpiece and leader of a broadening movement. 
The GOE apparently recognized him as such as well, and 
reports surfaced on May 14 that the GOE security services had 
ordered El Attar's employer to transfer him to a factory in 
Alexandria.  According to statements by the 36-year old 
father of three made to leftist activist and blogger Hossam 
el-Hamalawy, El Attar said he refused to accede to his 
employers request to meet with security officers, saying that 
"I will not negotiate with security.  This is an unfair 
decree to punish me for standing up for my rights and the 
rights of my colleagues," according to el-Hamalawy. 
 
¶8. (SBU) News of El Attar's planned "relocation" spread 
quickly among civil society activists, who organized a 
letter-writing campaign targeting the Prime Minister and 
Minister of Manpower and expressing solidarity with El Attar 
and other labor activists.  His factory rescinded the 
relocation order the next day, and El Attar credited the 
vocal response from labor organizations and activists in 
Egypt and abroad for the GOE's about-face. 
 
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Comment 
------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) The prospect for broader labor disturbances in the 
coming months is real.  The grievances and strike threats of 
workers at Cairo's public flour mills could resurface in June 
as an interim agreement on the provision of flour to the 
mills expires.  The GOE's efforts thus far have been 
successful in conciliating some striking workers in the 
various sectors, but the case-by-case approach has not 
addressed the larger, more fundamental issues facing Egypt's 
workers.  Ascribing the unrest to "silly groups" will neither 
assuage the workers nor correct the underlying problems. 
Notwithstanding the continued volatility of the labor 
situation in Egypt, and the MB's attempts to cast itself as a 
defender of worker rights, we do not yet see any evidence 
that the strikers' economic demands have meshed with other 
political grievances against the GOE. 
RICCIARDONE