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The pro-government Egyptian Trade Union Federation has issued a statement
Here it is, verbatim. Feel free to add your own comments. (The publication of this statement does not imply in any sense that I agree with one word of what it says.)
Eric Lee
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ETUF STATEMENT
Egyptian Trade Union Federation and the leaders of 24 Union from the Abdelmone; Riad on Wednesday 2nd of February 2011 walk On behalf of the workers and peasants that exert their efforts trying to get suitable food to eat and on behalf of the poor and low income classes that represent the majority of great Egyptian Citizens that protect their factories and their farms refusing all the calls of destructions, declare their support for legitimacy and refusing all sorts o destructing for the countries resources.Actually Egyptians workers and poor classes have suffered a lot from the unsuccessful policies that enable hypocrites to gain a lot of money that ETUF have condemned four years ago. This period has witnessed unprecedented conflict among the political parties that fail to make anything except serving their own interests <Within the critical incidents and status quo that Egypt is witnessing from destruction and demolition that leads to frighten the people after the complete stoppage of life and paralyze of all public utilities with a complete absence of security and the opening of prisons and the release of prisoners that overwhelm Egypt and Egyptians with fear and horror .Within this critical and decisive moment Egyptian Trade Union Federation declare their full support for legitimacy for President Hosny Mubarak in unprecedented support as a great leader keen to the interests of his people and his nation. President Mubarak has announced great changes and reforms through the constitutional reforms and his keen interest to prevent Egypt to go to the unknown with his people. All Egyptians Citizens Men Women children old people and young too that make a solid front against those who seize the opportunity like the false call of the political parties and suspicious movements financed from foreign authorities.Peasants and worker's won t accept any violation of constitution.They note very well all what is going on the arena fully aware of the incidents and conspiracies that need to get alerted to surpass this dilemma after the president declaration of his complete support to meet the people demands.All Egyptians workers people farmers are a l vaunt guiarde to protect the workers factories and working sites that have been subject to be targeted as points of destructions.Egyptian Workers are appealing the President and the New Government to drive Egypt to Security again to overcome all conspiracies that meet the interest of our enemiesWe appeal all workers from the entire world to support Egyptian Citizens and help Egyptian workersLong Live EGYPT God will protect Egypt from all conspiracies and plots that attack EgyptHussein MeguawerPresident
Views: 55
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Rohini hensman on -
This statement shows the urgent need for independent trade unions in Egypt to displace the ETUF, whose leaders must know very well what vicious repression would follow if the protests end without displacing Mubarak.
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Permalink Reply by Brian Ross Ashley on -
Agreed. They know full well that the old misleadership of the UGTT in Tunisia are being ousted from office, and they know the same will happen to them without Mubarak and the National Democratic Party to protect their interests.
Rohini hensman said:
This statement shows the urgent need for independent trade unions in Egypt to displace the ETUF, whose leaders must know very well what vicious repression would follow if the protests end without displacing Mubarak. -
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Permalink Reply by Richard Booth on -
The old adage 'he who pays the piper calls the tune' aptly applies here. This is not an independent union leadership speaking through this statement.As much as they are beholden to the current regime, they will support it for their own interests.
Also of note is the U.S. , on the one hand,supporting the Egyptians' demand for reform, and on the other hand, recommending Suleiman, the current Vice-President to assume power.Talk about rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic!
The Egyptians deserve freedom to choose their government.After all the years of repression, they are ready to demand it and the least anyone can do is not get in their way.
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Permalink Reply by peter waterman on -
Well, folks, interesting times indeed. I note from elsewhere on UB that the independent unions have called for the President of the ETUF to be prevented from leaving the country.
I note with a sense of the ironies of history that the only pro-Mubarak unions left may be the Eguptian ETUF and the Israeli Histadrut (tho it cannot be long before the latter cuts its losses and tries - like the US state - to find someone else it can trust to serve its imperial/colonial/military interests in Egypt).
And, once again, I am wondering when the ITUC in Brussels is going to catch up with the demonstrators in Freedom Square, and demand, for example, that Mubarak must go and that the corrupt leadership of the the ETUC must be prevented from doing so!
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Permalink Reply by Eric Lee on -
Where is the evidence that the Histadrut is pro-Mubarak? The General Council of the ITUC adopted a call for an international day of solidarity with the Egyptian people. To my knowledge, there was no opposition to that call. The full list of who is on the General Council is here.
As far as I know, every single union represented on that body supports the ITUC line on Egypt.
This includes both the Palestinian unions (PGFTU) and the Israeli Histadrut.
The Histadrut has not had a statement on its website about Egypt - but neither has the PGFTU.
The PGFTU did not have a great relationship with the official, pro-Mubarak unions in part because it has signed deals with the Histadrut.
It was not a member of the regional organization of Arab trade unions in which the now-discredited ETUF played a major role.
The official, state-controlled unions in much of the Arab world have tried to isolate the Palestinian unions for this reason.
Those unions - with the ETUF in the forefront - have now been exposed for what they are: state-controlled labour fronts and not genuine workers' organizations.
So the real supporters of the Mubarak regime would be those official unions in countries like Syria which have no problem with dictatorship and whose commitment to the Palestinian cause is a complete sham.
If Peter has any evidence that the Histadrut has been or is now a supporter of the ETUF or the Mubarak regime, he should present it.
And if not, he should withdraw his comments.
peter waterman said:Well, folks, interesting times indeed. I note from elsewhere on UB that the independent unions have called for the President of the ETUF to be prevented from leaving the country.
I note with a sense of the ironies of history that the only pro-Mubarak unions left may be the Eguptian ETUF and the Israeli Histadrut (tho it cannot be long before the latter cuts its losses and tries - like the US state - to find someone else it can trust to serve its imperial/colonial/military interests in Egypt).
And, once again, I am wondering when the ITUC in Brussels is going to catch up with the demonstrators in Freedom Square, and demand, for example, that Mubarak must go and that the corrupt leadership of the the ETUC must be prevented from doing so!
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Permalink Reply by Brian Ross Ashley on
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I note that the National Democratic Party have been expelled from the Socialist International. Are the ETUF in the ITUC? If so, why?
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Permalink Reply by peter waterman on
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Eric:
In the light of what you have said below I am certainly prepared to QUALIFY my statement.
It may well be that the Histadrut has never taken a position supporting the the authoritarian, militarist, anti-worker and anti-popular regime of Mubarak. On the other hand, it has been silent or slow (it is likely, like Barack Obama, to be adjusting to realities on the ground) to identify itself with the popular uprising in Egypt.
Given the suggestion of your response, that Histadrut leader, Ofer Eini, did not oppose the ITUC stand on Egypt, can we assume that Histadrut will be following the ITUC call for its February 8 international solidarity action? You will be the first to let us know.
My problem - even a problem more generally - is that the Histadrut website is overwhelmingly in Hebrew/Ivrit, a language I do not understand. And that questions about the ITUC (or individual elected officers such as Ofer Eini of Histadrut) can not be addressed to its website. The concept of an 'international public sphere' or of an active global citizenship, and of openness to such, are foreign to both of these.
Fortunately you have more understanding of such, as shown by your creation of UnionBook, on which a lively exchange of news and views on Egypt is taking place amongst union and left activists internationally.
One day - I would give it five years max - such organisations as the ITUC and Histadrut will be engaging in dialogue on UB with the rest of us.
Also the Palestinian PGFTU, which gives the impression of having either ambiguous or conflicting views on international relations, on the one hand collaborating with the Histadrut, on the other supporting the growing BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) campaign that Histadrut has condemned.
In the meantime, all strength to UBook, may this dialogue continue, and may the inter/national unions take part in it.
Eric Lee said:Where is the evidence that the Histadrut is pro-Mubarak? The General Council of the ITUC adopted a call for an international day of solidarity with the Egyptian people. To my knowledge, there was no opposition to that call. The full list of who is on the General Council is here.
As far as I know, every single union represented on that body supports the ITUC line on Egypt.
This includes both the Palestinian unions (PGFTU) and the Israeli Histadrut.
The Histadrut has not had a statement on its website about Egypt - but neither has the PGFTU.
The PGFTU did not have a great relationship with the official, pro-Mubarak unions in part because it has signed deals with the Histadrut.
It was not a member of the regional organization of Arab trade unions in which the now-discredited ETUF played a major role.
The official, state-controlled unions in much of the Arab world have tried to isolate the Palestinian unions for this reason.
Those unions - with the ETUF in the forefront - have now been exposed for what they are: state-controlled labour fronts and not genuine workers' organizations.
So the real supporters of the Mubarak regime would be those official unions in countries like Syria which have no problem with dictatorship and whose commitment to the Palestinian cause is a complete sham.
If Peter has any evidence that the Histadrut has been or is now a supporter of the ETUF or the Mubarak regime, he should present it.
And if not, he should withdraw his comments.
peter waterman said:Well, folks, interesting times indeed. I note from elsewhere on UB that the independent unions have called for the President of the ETUF to be prevented from leaving the country.
I note with a sense of the ironies of history that the only pro-Mubarak unions left may be the Eguptian ETUF and the Israeli Histadrut (tho it cannot be long before the latter cuts its losses and tries - like the US state - to find someone else it can trust to serve its imperial/colonial/military interests in Egypt).
And, once again, I am wondering when the ITUC in Brussels is going to catch up with the demonstrators in Freedom Square, and demand, for example, that Mubarak must go and that the corrupt leadership of the the ETUC must be prevented from doing so!
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Permalink Reply by Eric Lee on
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No, they are not. Here is a full list of ITUC affiliates, readily available on their website.
The rival 'World Federation of Trade Unions' (WFTU), once Soviet controlled, is less transparent. Their website has a short statement supporting the Egyptian people. But dig around a bit and you find that the rotten, state-controlled Egyptian Trade Union Federation was an active participant in their events. For example, this.
Brian Ross Ashley said:I note that the National Democratic Party have been expelled from the Socialist International. Are the ETUF in the ITUC? If so, why? -
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Permalink Reply by peter waterman on
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Eric and Brian
We need to get beyond thinking in terms of cold war categories or institutions. To say that the WFTU is 'less transparent' than the ITUC is to understate the troglodyte status of the former whilst failing to recognise the limitations of the latter.
The WFTU website does not even list its members/allies! These include not only the ETUF but the state and the state-controlled unions of Byelorus (widely considered the last dictatorship in Europe, though I would be inclined to include Russia).
But the ITUC has yet to publicly acknowledge, far less reply to, a stinging critique of its last Congress procedures by the South African Cosatu.
And, to the best of my knowledge, the Socialist International (part of the 20th century social-reformist family of which the ITUC is a member) still includes the APRA Party of President Garcia in Peru. This despite its being, corrupt, inefficient, responsible (in 1986) for a masscre of Maoist prisoners in Lima, profoundly anti-union, neo-liberal.
We can forget the WFTU, which has a totally flat profile in global civil society. And we should expect no leading role in global social emancipation from either the ITUC or the Socialist International. We need to think outside the coldwar and, indeed, the whole 20th century box of institutions and ideologies.
The heroic uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, and the ongoing upsurges in other countries of the Arab world, are further stimulus to re-think trade union and labour movement for (and against) a globalised and informatised capitalist system.
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Permalink Reply by Brian Ross Ashley on
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Thank you both, Peter and Eric. Events in the Maghreb and Egypt are clearly pulling ahead of the ability of the SI and the various trade union internationals to respond ... time for some change in all of them, so we can respond in a timely manner.
I have Stalinist friends who still think the WFTU is the greatest thing since the invention of the picket sign, and I work within Canada's NDP, the SI member party over here ... it would be great to clean out the deadwood and pro-boss organisations from all the labour internationals; we'd likely find ourselves outlawed in half the countries on the planet again, but we've DONE that. I agree with the COSATU critique of the ITUC.
peter waterman said:Eric and Brian
We need to get beyond thinking in terms of cold war categories or institutions. To say that the WFTU is 'less transparent' than the ITUC is to understate the troglodyte status of the former whilst failing to recognise the limitations of the latter.
The WFTU website does not even list its members/allies! These include not only the ETUF but the state and the state-controlled unions of Byelorus (widely considered the last dictatorship in Europe, though I would be inclined to include Russia).
But the ITUC has yet to publicly acknowledge, far less reply to, a stinging critique of its last Congress procedures by the South African Cosatu.
And, to the best of my knowledge, the Socialist International (part of the 20th century social-reformist family of which the ITUC is a member) still includes the APRA Party of President Garcia in Peru. This despite its being, corrupt, inefficient, responsible (in 1986) for a masscre of Maoist prisoners in Lima, profoundly anti-union, neo-liberal.
We can forget the WFTU, which has a totally flat profile in global civil society. And we should expect no leading role in global social emancipation from either the ITUC or the Socialist International. We need to think outside the coldwar and, indeed, the whole 20th century box of institutions and ideologies.
The heroic uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, and the ongoing upsurges in other countries of the Arab world, are further stimulus to re-think trade union and labour movement for (and against) a globalised and informatised capitalist system.
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Permalink Reply by Andrew Casey on -
ETUF affiliation to ITUC
As far as I understand it the ETUF is NOT affiliated to the ITUC.
I have looked through the ITUC website and the website of the ITUC Africa region office where affiliates are listed and they definitely are not listed.
Note the main website is a bit complicated to find the affiliates list but the ITUC Africa region affiliate list is quite clear here; http://www.ituc-africa.org/content/ITUC-Africa%20Affiliates.pdf
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Permalink Reply by Mac Urata on -
It is correct. ETUF is not affiliated to ITUC. I spoke to a senior staff about it and he reconfirmed.
Andrew Casey said:
ETUF affiliation to ITUC
As far as I understand it the ETUF is NOT affiliated to the ITUC.
I have looked through the ITUC website and the website of the ITUC Africa region office where affiliates are listed and they definitely are not listed.
Note the main website is a bit complicated to find the affiliates list but the ITUC Africa region affiliate list is quite clear here; http://www.ituc-africa.org/content/ITUC-Africa%20Affiliates.pdf
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