—ON THE PICKET LINE—

Maggie Trowe, Editor

Textile unionists in Egypt: ‘Reinstate fired worker!’

ATHENS, Greece — Leaders of the independent trade union movement in Egypt’s textile industry are fighting for reinstatement after being fired by the state-owned Mahalla Textile Company.

The workers at this mill, who were prominent in organizing mass strikes in 2006, 2008 and 2011, were in the vanguard of the fight to overthrow the dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak in February 2011. They were also part of mass nationwide demonstrations pressing the military to oust the repressive Muslim Brotherhood government of Mohammed Morsi in 2013.

“There was a strike Jan. 13 addressing management corruption and demanding that our yearly bonus be paid,” said fired union leader Kamal Fayoumy in a May 30 phone interview. “The bonus is an important part of the workers’ yearly income. The strike was peaceful and had broad participation. The company’s response was to fire two strikers, Gamal Gad and Nagi Heidar, on Jan. 26. On April 20 I was fired as well. The aim is to silence workers who speak out and organize.”

The Egyptian government refuses to recognize independent trade unions, Fayoumy said, and will only negotiate with the “official unions,” many of whose leaders were put in place under Mubarak.

“The question here is not about simply defending three workers who were unjustly dismissed,” he said. “This is about the rights of workers to organize unions, to speak out and to defend their rights. We have steadfastly fought for these things for years. Many workers in the factory understand this and support us.”

—Georges Mehrabian

NY-NJ airport workers: ‘We need better pay!’

NEW YORK — “We work long days with no breaks,” said Dominise Wright, a cabin cleaner at Ultimate Aircraft Appearance at JFK Airport. “We need better pay, better everything. I’m down for the $15 an hour. We deserve it, and we just need to see people fighting for it.”

Wright was one of half a dozen airport workers who spoke at a May 28 rally of more than 100 workers from the three New York-area airports and supporters in front of the World Trade Center headquarters where the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey board was meeting. A Domino’s Pizza worker from Brooklyn also addressed the rally. According to the Daily News, cleaners from Newark and JFK airports spoke before the board.

“The Port Authority has approved a $3.6 billion project to refurbish LaGuardia Airport,” said Michael Carey, a security guard at Aviation Safeguards at JFK, who emceed the event. “Workers have been waiting nine months for the Port Authority to improve our wages and benefits package. How can they refurbish the airport and not refurbish workers’ wages and benefits?”

There are 12,000 contract workers at the three airports, according to Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ, which organized the protest. Two City Council members and Sen. Charles Schumer spoke at the rally.

— Tony Lane