The problem with the proletariat

The problem with the proletariat
Blue-collar workers are increasingly vocal about their complaints

By Pakinam Amer and Summer Said
Thursday September 1, 2005

Around 30 workers from a textile factory in Daqhaliya staged a two-day sit-in outside the Prime Minister's office on 22 August saying that they have been denied their pensions for five years."
Our voice does not reach anyone anymore, it seems like we are from another planet," said Sabri Al Gayyar, a former worker, explaining what drove them to stage their protest."
They only wanted to get rid of excess workers," complains Abdel Azeem Al Sayyed, who worked at the Company for Weaving and Spinning in MitGhamr in the governorate of Daqhaliya. The Mit Ghamr workers represent 136 families who share the same fate. Some say that their children have dropped out of school to work and support their families. The youngest of the workers is 42 years old and has a household of four to support.
The sit-in, however, was just one of a handful of recent demonstrations by disgruntled blue-collar workers.
A few hours later in nearby Midan Talaat Harb, about three dozen former employees of the Egyptian Spanish Asbestos Company (Ora Misr) protested outside Groppi's Café, complaining that their former employer (who also owns Groppi's) fired them without providing workers' compensation or health benefits.
"We've had enough," said Mahmoud Al Sayyed, a 32-year-old worker at Ora Misr. "The government is doing nothing but telling us lies, the owners of the company are tyrants and the unions are useless."
Then, five days later, on 27 August, four paramedics climbed a tower in Maadi and threatened to jump off if their treatment and working conditions didn't improve.
The actions are indicative of the problems underlying the government's drive to privatize industries that have been run, inefficiently, for years by the state.
Early retirement schemes have resulted in massive layoffs, particularly during the 1990s. A report from the Land Center for HumanRights estimates that some 450,000 workers lost their jobs between the beginning of the privatization program in 1991 and 2002. While many received compensation to leave their jobs, economic research has shown that they still had problems finding new jobs or establishing businesses.
Under the government of Prime Minister Atef Ebeid, privatization efforts largely stalled, in part due to fears of the social upheaval they could cause. The privatization program slowed down from 31 dealssigned in 1999 to 25 in 2000, 16 in 2001, 8 in 2002 and only 3 in 2003.
With the Nazif government's relaunch of the privatization drive,workers are again worried about their future and, as a direct result, are increasingly willing to take to the streets, according to the Land Center report, Egypt witnessed 743 worker protests from 1998 to 2003. In 2004 alone, there were 267 protests, or twice as many as the previous year.
Mahmoud Mohieldin, the economically neo-liberal Minister of Investment who oversees privatization, conducted a record 28 transactions in 2004, which he says were worth LE 5.6 billion. He has also said that the government will review compensation for workers that are dismissed after privatization deals but insists that 20-30 percent of current public sector workers, who are often under-paid and under-employed, will have to go. He must reconcile this with his government's promise to keep in mind worker welfare. For now, however, strikes and protests have left him undaunted about his mission to sell off the bulk of public sector enterprises, including some of the gems in the state's portfolio, such as Telecom Egypt."
I think I will break another record this year," Mohieldin told journalists after a recent Mubarak campaign press conference.

Copyright2005 Cairo Magazine