VZCZCXRO8266
RR RUEHROV
DE RUEHEG #1547/01 2211454
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 091454Z AUG 09
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3375
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CAIRO 001547 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DRL/ILCSR FOR DANG 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/09/2029 
TAGS: ELAB PGOV PHUM KISL SOCI EG
SUBJECT: STRIKES AND MOULIDS IN NILE DELTA TEXTILE CENTER 
 
Classified By: Economic-Political Counselor Stephen O'Dowd for reason 1.4(d)
1.Key Points: -- (SBU) Textile workers at a recently privatized factory in the Egyptian Nile Delta City of Tanta have been on strike since May. The strike is sanctioned by the GoE-controlled textile workers union, which has never before approved a strike. -- (C) The Muslim Brotherhood, viewed as a potent force in Egypt's Nile Delta region, has offered no support to the strikers, which a local labor activist said contributes to growing local disenchantment with the group. -- (SBU) Tanta's annual celebration of the birthday of a Sufi holy figure will proceed as scheduled in October, despite recent controversy, in the wake of the H1N1 scare, surrounding the scheduling of large public gatherings.

¶2. (C) Comment: While Egypt's workers are increasingly assertive, the Tanta strike may reflect limits on the movement's ability to effect change beyond parochial economic demands. In the case of the Tanta strikers, the GoE-controlled textile workers union took the unprecedented step of approving the strike, but the union offered no other support, leaving the relatively unsophisticated workers on their own, with limited leadership and no organizational structure, to attempt to negotiate a settlement with the factory's foreign owner. ----------------------------- Textile Industry Labor Unrest -----------------------------

¶3. (C) XXXXXXXXXXXX SCOBEY