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Vol. 71/No. 38      October 15, 2007

 
On the Picket Line
 
Thousands of workers protest
low pay in Egypt, Bangladesh
On September 23, some 27,000 textile workers in Mahalla al-Kubra, Egypt, went on strike against the Misr Helwan Spinning and Weaving Company. The strikers are demanding that the company live up to an agreement to pay them an annual bonus of 45 days’ wages. They also call for freeing five of their leaders who are in jail, and for firing the head of the company.

In Dhaka, Bangladesh, 10,000 garment workers defied a government ban on public demonstrations and took to the streets September 22 after their employer, Nassa Group, locked them out. The workers are demanding better pay, including a higher annual bonus. They currently earn about $25 a month.

—Cindy Jaquith

Atlanta cab drivers launch
union organizing drive
ATLANTA—Hundreds of taxi drivers met here September 19 to launch a union organizing drive. Nine days earlier, airport cabbies carried out an impromptu five-hour strike over job conditions.

“The cops harass us all the time,” cab driver Sayid Omar, 30, told the Militant. He said a police officer recently gave him a $90 ticket for impeding traffic. When he asked how he was impeding, the cop issued him another ticket for disobeying an officer.

Yusuf, who declined to give his last name, explained that the airport staging area has only 300 parking places. Drivers can end up circling the airport for hours before getting into the parking area, and then wait another three to four hours for a fare. Drivers also cited rising costs, including $700 a month for their license, gas, and car maintenance.

More than 1,000 cab drivers, the majority of whom are African immigrants, work at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.

—Karl Butts  
 
 
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