Egyptian workers fight for their rights

Since the fall of Mubarak, workers have taken their chance to launch strikes and protests over both political issues and working conditions. There have been strikes of telecoms workers against the management board and demanding the releaase of fellow co-workers, a strike at Egypt’s Misr Cement over wages as well as lawyers locked in a dispute with judges over the new Judiciary Authority Law, which gives judges the right to detain lawyers in the courtroom if a judge considers that they are being ‘disrespectful’.
Even the hated police force have been on strike, demanding shorter working hours and a 200 per cent increase in pay.
The military government is currently discussing a new draft law which would improve workers’ conditions and rights. It includes cancelling Law 35/1976, which gives the state control over trade unions in terms of finances and activities.
The problem is that all the strikes are disconnected, which means that the bosses or the government can deal with the different disputes separately.