AAUMC express our unconditional support with Mahalla in Egypt. Mahalla workers have been struggling to feed their family and fight for a life with the dignity and respect workers deserve.
Dear friends,
There is a ongoing crackdown on labor activists in Mahalla, since they staged a demonstration last October against the management's corruption:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcarr/sets/72157608515197459/
http://arabist.net/arabawy/2008/11/26/renewed-crackdown-on-ghazl-el-mahalla-workers/
http://delicious.com/elhamalawy/MahallaOctoberProtest
Following the demo, the management decreed the transfer of four activists from their positions:
1- Blogger Kareem el-Beheiri was moved to the Cairo office
2-Mohamed el-Attar was moved to the Alexandria office
3-Amal Said was moved to the company's nursery
4-Wedad el-Demerdash was also transferred to the nursery
http://arabist.net/arabawy/2008/11/09/crackdown-on-mahalla-labor-activists-continue/
More alarmingly, the two women (Amal and Wedad) were sexually assaulted by thugs at the behest of the management, when they tried to enter the company compound.
http://arabist.net/arabawy/2008/11/04/mahalla_sex_asaults/
The victimized workers' colleagues are planning a demo on Saturday in solidarity. However yesterday another activist was victimized (named Wael Habib) as he was distributing leaflets in the company calling for the demo:
http://arabist.net/arabawy/2008/11/26/renewed-crackdown-on-ghazl-el-mahalla-workers/
Wael has been one of the central figures in the December 2006 and September 2007 strikes...
