Middle East

Paradise Now, dir. Hany Abu-Assad, 2006. Film review

Reviews of controversial Oscar nominee for best foreign film

Clarifying the Muddle East

Iran: Lightning strike at Haft-Tapeh Sugar Factory

Haft Tapeh workers marching earlier this year

Haft-Tapeh workers went on a shift strike following another arrest of a workers’ representative

Another workers’ representative of Haft Tapeh Sugar Factory, Mohammad Heydari Mehr was arrested by security forces on November 7, 2007 after being asked to refer to intelligence and security offices in the city of Shoush. Ghorban Alipour, another representative of Haft Tapeh Sugar Factory workers was arrested at his residence and taken away by security forces on November 5, 2007.

Iran: The struggle of the Haft-Tapeh workers

Workers at Iran's Haft Tapeh sugar factory have been engaged in a struggle since they first went on strike in October. The state responded with repression, arresting organizers, and the workers have been engaged in action in response.

Here is the statement from the Workers Action Committee following the initial strike.

Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane workers in southern Iran go on strike

Iran sentences labour leader to five years imprisonment

Mansoor Osanloo, leader of the Tehran bus drivers union, who has been imprisoned for months after being kidnapped on the street by police has just been sentenced by Iran's judiciary.

An Iranian court has sentenced a dissident labor leader to five years in jail, a judiciary official was quoted as saying on Wednesday.

Mansoor Osanloo, who runs a union grouping bus drivers, was detained in July for "distributing statements against the system". Western rights groups say Iran has launched a crackdown on dissenting voices, although Tehran denies this.

Egypt labour unrest: late October updates

Mahalla textiles workers in September, 2007

A short update on labour struggles in Egypt in late October.

Egypt’s workers’ unrest is continuing unabated. According to the Egyptian Workers and Trade Union Watch (EWTUW) there have been a total of 580 industrial actions in the period January- September. Almost every month sees an increase in workers’ actions: from around 20 in early 2007 to the peak of 100 and 94 actions in August and September respectively.

Repression continues in Iran

Iranian labour activists have come under fierce attack recently with bus workers' union organiser, Mansour Osanloo imprisoned and at risk of losing his sight.

The ITF is condemning the latest tactic in what it describes as a cynical catalogue of dirty tricks played by the Iranian government on imprisoned trade union leader Mansour Osanloo.

Prison sentence for Egyptian workers' rights activist

Kamal Abbas, General Coordinator of the Center for Trade Unions and Workers Services (CTUWS) and his lawyer, Mohamed Helmy have been sentenced one year’s imprisonment by an Egyptian court.

A law suit for alleged “slander and defamation of character” against Kamal Abbas was filed by Mohamed Ibrahim, chairman of the board of directors of a youth centre in 15 May City and member of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP).

Egypt: three strikes and three victories in one week

Egypt struggled Tuesday to stem a rising tide of industrial action as officials rushed to end the third strike in a week, the latest challenge to President Hosni Mubarak's regime.

Labour ministry officials met employee representatives at the Damietta Spinning and Weaving Co to come to an agreement just 24 hours after workers kicked off their strike, the official MENA news agency said. Labour Minister Aisha Abdel Hadi told reporters she was eager to "protect the interests and rights of the workers."

The Militancy of Mahalla al-Kubra - Joel Beinin

"For the second time in less than a year, in the final week of September the 24,000 workers of the Misr Spinning and Weaving Company in Mahalla al-Kubra went on strike -- and won." This article by Joel Beinin gives a good overview of the Mahalla al-Kubra's Ramadan strike of September 2007.

For the second time in less than a year, in the final week of September the 24,000 workers of the Misr Spinning and Weaving Company in Mahalla al-Kubra went on strike -- and won. As they did the first time, in December 2006, the workers occupied the Nile Delta town’s mammoth textile mill and rebuffed the initial mediation efforts of Egypt’s ruling National Democratic Party (NDP).

Mahalla strikers score victory

Government negotiators and labor representatives resolved early on Saturday a week-old labor dispute that had paralyzed Egypt’s largest textile factory by largely agreeing to the workers’ demands, the strike committee said in a statement.

Workers’ representatives of the Misr Spinning and Weaving Company in Mahalla el-Kubra, north of Cairo, met with the official government union and they agreed to grant the workers’ an additional 90 days pay, and negotiate over further increases.