We are asking everyone to join the protests against the repression of Egyptian trade unionists.

Prices of the most basic food and of gas, electricity and other utilities are spiralling out of control in Egypt and millions of ordinary people are facing hunger. A series of strikes, involving factory workers, university lecturers and tax collectors among others broke out after workers in Egypt’s largest textile factory in Mahallah paved the way with a successful strike in December 2006.
 
On April 6 2008 led by Mahallah, strikes took place across Egypt in support of living wages.
In response the Mubarak regime decided to occupy El-Mahalla complex with security forces, abduct strike committee leaders Kamal El-Faioumy and Tarek Amin and arrest political activists of every political tendency in Cairo and other cities.

Not able to suppress the protests, the Mubarak security forces used rubber-bullets, tear-gas, and live ammunition against the Mahallah people who decided to protest on the streets of the city and in different villages, leaving at least two dead and hundreds injured and around 800 arrested. We want to send our solidarity to the Egyptian workers and their supporters.

The courts have ordered the release of Kamal El-Faioumy, Tarek Amin and Karim El-Beheiry but the Minister of the Interior continues to hold them in illegal detention along with five other residents of Mahallah. The Mubarak regime routinely uses torture against its political opponents. Urgent action is needed to secure the safety and release of the detainees.

Please make a protest call or send a fax or letter urgently to the addresses below, and return signatures to This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it   asap.

Download a petition sheet from www.sacc.org.uk/sacc/resources/egypt_petition.doc

Signatures (all in a personal capacity) include: Jeremy Corbyn MP; George Galloway MP; Bob Crow, General Secretary RMT; Mark Serwotka, General Secretary PCS; Jane Loftus, President CWU; Nick Grant, NUT NEC; Ian Allinson UNITE NEC; Unjum Mirza, Branch Sec Stratford no1 RMT; Howard Miles, UCU NEC; Alliya Stennett UCU NEC: Lindsey German, Stop the War Coalition; John Rees, Cairo Conference; Clare Solomon, President, SOAS Student Union; Francisco Louçã, Member of Parliament, Portugal; China Miéville writer, Mike Davis writer and academic, USA; Prof. Esther Leslie, Britain; Michael Löwy, sociologist, France; Prof. Moshe Machover, Britain; Prof. Jacques Bidet, France; Prof. Claudio Katz, Argentina; Prof. Jonathan Nitzan, Canada; Prof. Craig Brandist, Britain; Prof. Alex Callinicos, Britain; Jim Wolfreys, President, King’s College London UCU; Cllr Michael Lavalette, Preston City Council; Cllr Oli Rahman Tower Hamlets; Cllr Hanif Abdulmuhit, Newham; Linda Smith, Chair, Respect; Geoff Brown, Secretary, Manchester Trades Council; Pat Carmody, Branch Sec CWU Capital P&B, Caroline Johnson, Asst Branch Sec, Birmingham UNISON; Sally Kincaid, Divisional Sec Wakefield & District NUT;

Send protests to:

Minister of the Interior General Habib El Adly, El Sheikh Rihan St.Cairo, Arab Republic of Egypt, Phone no. 00202 - 27957500, Fax 00202 -2 5792031, E-mail This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

with copies to:

the Egyptian Embassy, 26 South Street, London W1K 1DW Email: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it