Building solidarity with the workers’ movement in the Middle East:
A conference for trade union members and activists
Sunday 20 Nov 2011
11am–3pm Room G2, main campus, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), Thornhaugh Street, London WC1H 0XG
Strikes and protests by organised workers played a key role in the overthrow of the Tunisian and Egyptian dictators earlier this year. Since then we’ve seen the newly-formed independent unions in Egypt organising strikes on a massive scale to realise the revolution’s promise of social justice.
Even Kuwait, with little tradition of workers’ organisation, has been rocked by public sector strikes. From Morocco to Iraq, few countries in the region have been immune from the resurgent workers’ movement.
Yet there have also been setbacks: trade unionists in Bahrain have faced persecution following the crackdown on protest there, while in Egypt workers have been dragged before military courts and strikes are still illegal.
This conference will bring together activists from across the trade union movement to debate how we can build solidarity with those in the Middle East who are fighting for social justice, workers’ rights and genuine democracy.
Conference sessions include:
Workers and the Arab revolutions
Building the independent unions in Egypt
Bahraini trade unionists’ fight for justice
The Tunisian workers’ movement after the revolution
Speakers include:
Mohamed Shafiq, President of the Manshiyet al-Bakri Hospital Union in Cairo and a leading healthworker activist from Egypt
Unjum Mirza, Political Officer, RMT London Transport Region
Dina Makram-Ebeid, Popular Campaign to Drop Egypt’s Debt
Anne Alexander, MENA Solidarity Network
Bahraini Activists
Plus speakers from NUT teachers union, PCS civil service workers union, and UCU lecturers unions.
Tickets £5 waged/£3 (cons)
To register please complete the conference booking form and send to: menasolidarity@gmail.com
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