VZCZCXYZ0001
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHEG #2887/01 2680912
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 250912Z SEP 07
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7012
INFO RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC

UNCLAS CAIRO 002887 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ELA (NAFZIGER) AND DRL/IL (ANZALDUA) 
LABOR FOR ILAB (SHEA) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB ECON PGOV PINR EG
SUBJECT: LABOR UNREST RETURNS TO NILE DELTA 
 
REF: A. 06 CAIRO 7256 
     ¶B. CAIRO 1595 AND PREVIOUS 
 
Sensitive but unclassified.  Please handle accordingly. 
 
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Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) Up to 24,000 workers at one of Egypt's largest 
public textile factories, Ghazl el Mehalla, have been on 
strike since September 23 demanding unpaid bonuses, pay 
increases, and changes in company and factory union 
leadership.  The GOE has deemed the strike illegal although 
security interference has been largely limited to the 
detention of several strike leaders after a scuffle between 
workers and a union representative.  Negotiations have not 
yet borne fruit, and some smaller solidarity strikes are 
underway, including in a nearby textile factory.  Ghazl el 
Mehalla was the scene of some of the largest strikes in 
recent Egyptian history in December 2006 (ref A). End summary. 
 
----------------------- 
On Strike in el Mehalla 
----------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) An estimated 24,000 workers are currently taking 
illegal strike action at the state-owned Ghazl el Mehalla 
textile factory in Egypt's Nile Delta region.  The factory 
was the scene of mass strikes in the winter of 2006 that shed 
light on Egypt's malfunctioning trade union structures and 
spawned copycat actions in several sectors throughout the 
country.  The workers walked off the job on September 23, 
protesting the non-delivery of concessions gained during the 
December 2006 strikes, and demanding wage levels to meet 
increasingly higher prices for basic commodities.  Unlike in 
previous large strikes, neither Minister of Manpower Aisha 
Abdel Hady nor Minister of Investment Mahmoud Mohieldin has 
become directly involved in mediating the dispute as of 
September 24.  The protest is centered on the public Talat 
Harb Square across from the factory gates, with workers 
overnighting in the open air and being joined by family and 
others for the performance of special Ramadan rituals. 
 
¶3. (SBU) In addition to criticizing the National Democratic 
Party (NDP)-controlled trade unions as not representing 
worker interests, the workers are also voicing opposition to 
the GOE's overall privatization policies, chanting "We will 
not be ruled by the World Bank!  We will not be ruled by 
colonialism!"  Solidarity strikes among other public textile 
factories have begun, with textile workers from another Nile 
delta factory, Ghazl Kafr el Dawwar, announcing their plans 
to join the strike by Tuesday. Opposition organization 
Kefaya's "Workers for Change" group announced that it was 
mobilizing demonstrations of solidarity at the South Giza 
Grain Mills near Cairo. 
 
¶4. (SBU) NGO contacts monitoring the strike told us that the 
uniformed police presence was light throughout the day on 
September 23 but increased with the approach of iftar (the 
breaking of the Ramadan fast at sunset).  Leftist bloggers 
with contacts among the strike leaders are reporting that the 
city is "swarming" with plainclothes police, however.  The 
strike has been primarily peaceful, although some workers 
reportedly roughed up the head of the factory's Workers Union 
Committee Sedik Siam on September 23 during an attempt by 
Siam to dissolve the strike.  Siam escaped with minor 
injuries.  Workers had cast a vote of no confidence in Siam 
before beginning the strike. 
 
-------------- 
Strike Leaders 
-------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Mohamed el Attar, a textile worker who emerged as a 
prominent leader of the December 2006 Mehalla strike, and who 
was subsequently threatened by company management with 
relocation to Alexandria (reftel), is once again playing a 
prominent role among strike leaders.  Striking workers report 
that an Egyptian State Security Prosecutor (SSP) summoned el 
Attar and four other strike leaders, Faisal Lekoush, Wael 
Habib, Mohamed Abo el Esaad, and Magdy Sherif, for 
questioning at 1000 a.m. on September 24, ostensibly with 
regard to the attack on Siam. The three strike leaders were 
released soon thereafter and emerged with twelve defense 
attorneys at their side, according to an NGO contact. 
However, the release was only a temporary reprieve to allow 
the leaders to break the fast with their families, and police 
subsequently returned the five to detention where they spent 
the night.  As of OOB September 25, the five were still in 
police custody.  Contacts also tell us that the SSP summoned 
two journalists from opposition newspaper El Wafd for 
questioning under the accusation that they were involved in 
inciting the strike. 
 
------------ 
MB Meddling? 
------------ 
 
¶6. (SBU) The Muslim Brotherhood is expressing solidarity with 
the striking workers, although their direct input to the 
action appears limited.  MB MP Saber Aboul Fattouh expressed 
his full solidarity with the striking workers, called on the 
Minister of Manpower and Minister of Investment to respond 
immediately to the workers' demands, but also reaffirmed the 
independence of the striking workers from any political 
movement.  According to press reports, MB MP's Saad El 
Hussainy, Magdy Ashour, Mohamed el Adly, and Yehia el 
Messairy have joined with other opposition parliamentarians 
have demanded that the Peoples Assembly work to contain the 
crisis, and that the GOE live up to its promises made during 
last year's strikes.  State-controlled MENA wire service 
quoted an anonymous "unionist source" as blaming the MB of 
being behind the strikes, although one of the prominent 
strike leaders, Karim el-Beheiri, complained on a leftist 
blog of "the weak solidarity coming from the Muslim Brothers. 
 They are hardly noticed. But I can see virtually all other 
political forces present." 
 
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The Demands 
----------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) The Ghazl el Mehalla workers passed out leaflets 
printed with the following demands: 
 
¶1. Impeachment of the company's Chairman of the Board. 
¶2. Impeachment of the factory's Union Committee officials. 
¶3. Linking monthly incentives to a fixed percentage of the 
monthly basic salary. 
¶4. Increasing the food allowance to match the increase in 
food prices. 
¶5. Salary increase commensurate with increased prices. 
¶6. Paying the workers a one-off 130-day payment as part of 
their annual share of profits. 
¶7. Solving the transportation crisis. 
¶8. Paying the workers' housing allowances. 
JONES