Textile workers at the Misr Spinning Company in Mahalla are fighting for decent pay and conditions at work, and in defence of their right to organise and strike. A two-week long strike in August 2017 brought the company to a standstill and mobilised thousands of workers to demand the payment of delayed bonuses and changes to the company’s management. Since then, the company has locked out workers it claims organised the strike and reported them to the police.

Eight workers from Mahalla are facing victimisation by company management and repression by the Egyptian authorities after managers singled them out on charges of organising the two-week long strike which mobilised thousands of workers in August this year. On 9 September, Misr Spinning management suspended two women (Wala’a Mohamed Abd-al-Ra’uf and Nagwa Sa’ad Abd-al-Qadir) and four men (Mohamed Al-Sayyed Misbah, Amru Rifa’at Salama, Amir Gamal Hassan and Karim Hossam Isma’il) from work and reported them to the police on charges of “incitement to strike”, and “obstructing work”. Another worker, Yasser Fahmi has been forcibly transferred to Alexandria, while administrator Tala’at al-Umari has had his pay docked. The company also delayed payment of workers’ September pay packets. Meanwhile, riot police remain deployed across the town in a bid to pre-empt further protests.

What you can do:

• Sign the solidarity statement here (full list of signatures published below)
• Circulate the appeal for solidarity on social media
• Get your union branch to pass a resolution in solidarity with the strike and calling on the company and the Egyptian authorities to stop the victimisations and repression

Stand with Mahalla: Defend striking workers in Egypt
Solidarity statement

Add your name here

The workers of Misr Spinning and Weaving in Mahalla, Egypt have taken a courageous stand against poverty and repression. In August 2017, thousands of the company’s workers took part in a two-week strike and several protest marches, demanding the payment of bonuses and allowances which are added to their poverty-level wages. They have taken action despite threats and intimidation from the security forces, and in defiance of the Egyptian authorities who have a shameful track record of arresting and jailing trade union activists in attempts to crush a growing wave of workers’ strikes and protests in response to spiralling inflation following economic reforms demanded by the International Monetary Fund.

We declare our solidarity with the workers of Mahalla and their families. We condemn the victimisation of workers by the Misr Spinning company management, which has locked out a number of workers and reported them to the police on charges of “incitement to strike”, while delaying the payment of wages for the whole workforce. We call on the Egyptian authorities to respect Egyptian workers’ right to strike and organise and to stop arresting and jailing trade unionists. We call on the global trade union movement to mobilise in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Egypt in their struggle for justice.

Petros Constantinou, Councillor, Athens Municipality, Greece; Ian Hodson, National President, BFAWU (Bakers and Food workers’ Union) UK; Tony Phillips, Branch Secretary, UNISON London Fire Authority; Abbey Berghaus, Head Steward, United Auto Workers 2865, USA; Professor Joel Beinin, Stanford University, USA; Sasha Simic, Shop Steward, C133, USDAW (Shop and Distribution workers’ Union); Professor Bob Brecher, University of Brighton, UK; Professor Alex Callinicos, Kings College London, UK; Linda Gomaa, Regional Organizer, Turkey, International Union League for Brand Responsibility; Michael Thomson, New South Wales State Secretary, National Tertiary Education Union, Australia; Mike Treen, National Director, Unite Union, New Zealand; Carolyn Egan, President, United Steelworkers Local 8300, Canada

Full list of signatures and messages of support (20/09/2017)