| The TUC has received the following press release from the independent trade union organisation CTUWS, whose website has been blocked by the Egyptian government as part of the repression of dissent in Egypt. Press Release Date: Sunday, 30 January 2011 Today, representatives of the Egyptian labor movement, made up of the independent Egyptian trade unions of workers in real estate tax collection, the retirees, the technical health professionals and representatives of the important industrial areas in Egypt: Helwan, Mahalla al-Kubra, the tenth of Ramadan city, Sadat City and workers from the various industrial and economic sectors such as: garment & textiles, metals industry, pharmaceuticals, chemical industry, government employees, iron and steel, automotive, etc... agreed to hold a press conference at 3:30pm this afternoon in Tahrir Square next to Omar Effendi Company store in downtown Cairo to announce the organization of the new Federation of Egyptian Trade Unions and to announce the formation of committees in all factories and enterprises to protect, defend them and to set a date for a general strike. And to emphasize that the labor movement is in the heart and soul of the Egyptian Peoples' revolution and its emphasis on the support for the six requirements as demanded by the Egyptian People's Revolution. To emphasize the economic and democratic demands voiced by the independent labor movement through thousands of strikes, sit-ins and protests by Egyptian workers in the past years. Translation of original in Arabic into English For more information about the CTUWS, the Centre for Trade Unions and Workers Services, an independent NGO in Egypt, see this Oxfam report. See also: ITUC statement calling for an end to repression in Egypt Egypt: ITUC condemns police repression against peaceful demonstrators 25 January 2011: Tens of thousands of peaceful demonstrators were protesting today in the capital of Cairo, as in many other Egyptian cities including Alexandria, Aswan, Mahallah, Ismailiya. As in Tunisia, they are demanding social and political reforms, blaming corruption, poverty, high prices and police brutality. Not authorized by the Egyptian authorities, these protests, joined by many independent trade unionists, were facing massive police presence and in some cases were heavily repressed. The ITUC condemns the use of tear gas and violence against demonstrators and calls for the immediate release of the people arrested today. The ITUC also condemns the censorship of some means of communication today in Egypt. Having already expressed in the last weeks its serious concerns for the Egyptian people as for those of several other countries in the region, the General Secretary of the ITUC once again calls on the governments of the region to open up to real social dialogue and listen to the legitimate aspirations of their people. “The Egyptian people who were peacefully expressing their legitimate rights to social justice and freedom of expression have to be listened to and their concerns taken into account”. |