Declaration of the Workers’ Coalition of the January 25 Revolution

Egypt

Declaration of the Workers’ Coalition of the January 25 Revolution
Leaders, emblematic figures and other personalities related to the Egyptian workers’ movement have come together to examine the current situation. They have affirmed their adhesion to the January 25 Revolution whose slogan is: “Change, Freedom, Social Justice!”

They have also underlined the basic right of the workers to take back the rights which were confiscated from them (the right to strike, the right to demonstrate peacefully) as well as the legitimacy of their fight against corruption, whether it is conducted in relation to the management of their enterprise or concerning the official trade-union organizations.

By their mobilizations, the workers have indeed largely contributed in recent years to preparing the ground for the revolution. Their struggles were decisive for the defeat of their enemies and the opposition to the regime. Thanks to these mobilizations, the revolution will not cease until victory is won, in other words until social and economic demands are concretized. This is why we affirm our determination to win the following demands:

1. Form the civilian Presidential Council immediately, in order to direct the transition.

2. Bring down the government of Ahmed Chafik (although it is trying to do a quick repair job) and form another government made up of national bodies that are qualified and completely independent of the current regime, until the holding of new elections.

3. Lift the state of emergency immediately.

4. Release all political prisoners immediately.

5. Dismantle the state intelligence and security apparatus, condemn anyone who has taken part in or been responsible for repression and torture against citizens.

6. Bring to justice those figures who symbolize corruption and recover the riches that have been confiscated, in order to restore social justice and to implement the demands of the workers.

7. Implement all judicial decisions arising from the law that have been ignored up to now, as well as the provisions relating to the minimum wage; dissolve the official trade-union organizations and reinstate all workers who have been dismissed.

8. Implement international agreements relating to economic and social rights so as to be able to enjoy trade-union freedoms and fair wages, to have the right to work in order to provide for one’s own needs, the right to social security and health insurance, the right to education and housing, the right to strike and to collective resistance.
Taking all this into consideration, we call on workers to continue to defend their rights courageously. We also affirm that history will not forgive the worker who will not be indignant to the end against the injustice that he or she and their fellow-workers are suffering in this revolutionary period. They must join, as quickly as possible, trade-union, social, cultural and political organizations, until the victory of the revolution.

For a revolution… a revolution until victory!

Change, Freedom, Social Justice!

signed by (in alphabetical order): Bissan Kassab (Revolutionary Socialists), Hamdi Hussein (Workers’ Federation of the Egyptian Communist party), Khalid Al-Azhari (Muslim Brotherhood), Khaled Ali (Centre for Social and Economic Rights), Rashad Shaban (Amiriya textile workers), Saud Omar (National Democratic Forum), Seham Shwadeh (Solidarity Group), Shokri Azare (Committee for the Defence of Insurance Funds), Saber Abou Al-Fotouh (Centre of Manual Workers of Egypt), Saber Barakat (Coordinating Committee for Trade-union Rights and Freedoms), Salah Numan (chemical industry workers), Talal Shokr (Federation of Pensioners), Garib Saqr (“Egypt and Iran” factory), Fatma Ramadan (Movement for Socialist Renewal), Maher Suleiman (Muslim Brotherhood), Mohammed Al-Attar (Mahalla textile workers), Mohamed Abdel-Salam (Coordinating Committee for Trade-union Rights and Freedoms), Naji Rashad (mill workers), Hisham Fouad (Revolutionary Socialists), Haitham Gabr (Movement for Socialist Renewal), Yosri Bayoumi (Centre of Manual Workers of Egypt).

Cairo, February 25, 2011