Strike at Egypt's largest textile mill empowers workers with sense of hope

Socialist Worker

Strike gives hope in Egypt’s textile mills

 
The Mahalla textile strike shows the potential for Egyptian workers to fight in the face of repression

August 29, 2017


Tom Kay 

A recent 14-day strike by Egyptian textile workers was an impressive display of workers’ organisation and resilience in the face of Abdel Fatah el-Sisi’s military regime.

At its height, the strike involved 16,000 workers at the state-owned Misr Spinning and Weaving Company in Mahalla in northern Egypt.

It was suspended on Tuesday of last week after management agreed to consider the workers’ demands.

When workers launched their strike on 7 August, bosses had insisted that their demands would not be met.

The Misr Spinning and Weaving Company chair threatened to lock out workers.

But this threat was met by a demonstration of thousands of workers and their families through Mahalla.

There were also signs that their action could spread. Some 3,000 workers at the nearby Al-Nasr Processing and Dyeing factory joined the strike, and other factories reported slowdowns.

This clearly made bosses nervous, with Al-Nasr management quickly making promises to resolve the dispute.

The Misr Spinning and Weaving Company chairman instructed factory management to open dialogue with the workers.

Before the strike was suspended bosses had ramped up their rhetoric, branding it as “led by terrorists”. This is a reference to the banned Muslim Brotherhood organisation.
Promised

But last Sunday a leaflet signed by the company’s commissioner-general and a group of local MPs promised to consider workers’ demands within the week.

Workers responded by suspending their strike. But they made clear that it will restart after the Eid Al-Adha festival, ending on 4 September, if the promises prove hollow.

While the outcome of the dispute is yet to be seen, it is hugely important.

The Mahalla workers refused to be intimidated by the security forces, and have successfully forced Egypt’s largest state-owned company to consider their demands.

This may seem a small step, but is significant in a country where strikes are illegal and strike leaders and thousands of activists have been jailed.

Workers’ demands included payment of a delayed 10 percent bonus and increasing the monthly food allowance. These issues point to bigger problems the regime is facing.

It has recently pushed through series of “economic reforms” in exchange for a $12 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan.

The IMF declared the Egyptian Central Bank’s governor its “Central Bank Governor of the Year” for the role he played in pushing through the free market reforms.

But these measures have seen inflation jump as high as 30 percent, plunging millions deeper into poverty.

Further laws favourable to foreign investors are expected soon. But alongside more attacks, there is a potential for a fightback.

Recent weeks have seen wildcat strikes by Egyptian train drivers over safety and large protests by residents of Warraq Island in Cairo. The regime is trying to demolish their homes and sell land to investors.

Resistance at Mahalla has often played an important role in Egypt, including during the 2011 revolution.

Mass strikes and uprisings in the city can give confidence to workers and poor people across Egypt to fight.

World's 8 richest people have same wealth as poorest 50%

The Guardian
World's eight richest people have same wealth as poorest 50%

A new report by Oxfam warns of the growing and dangerous concentration of wealth

Monday 16, January 2017

The world’s eight richest billionaires control the same wealth between them as the poorest half of the globe’s population, according to a charity warning of an ever-increasing and dangerous concentration of wealth.

In a report published to coincide with the start of the week-long World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Oxfam said it was “beyond grotesque” that a handful of rich men headed by the Microsoft founder Bill Gates are worth $426bn (£350bn), equivalent to the wealth of 3.6 billion people.

The development charity called for a new economic model to reverse an inequality trend that it said helped to explain Brexit and Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election.

 

Oxfam blamed rising inequality on aggressive wage restraint, tax dodging and the squeezing of producers by companies, adding that businesses were too focused on delivering ever-higher returns to wealthy owners and top executives.

The World Economic Forum (WEF) said last week that rising inequality and social polarisation posed two of the biggest risks to the global economy in 2017 and could result in the rolling back of globalisation.

Oxfam said the world’s poorest 50% owned the same in assets as the $426bn owned by a group headed by Gates, Amancio Ortega, the founder of the Spanish fashion chain Zara, and Warren Buffett, the renowned investor and chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway.

The others are Carlos Slim Helú: the Mexican telecoms tycoon and owner of conglomerate Grupo Carso; Jeff Bezos: the founder of Amazon; Mark Zuckerberg: the founder of Facebook; Larry Ellison, chief executive of US tech firm Oracle; and Michael Bloomberg; a former mayor of New York and founder and owner of the Bloomberg news and financial information service.

Last year, Oxfam said the world’s 62 richest billionaires were as wealthy as half the world’s population. However, the number has dropped to eight in 2017 because new information shows that poverty in China and India is worse than previously thought, making the bottom 50% even worse off and widening the gap between rich and poor.

With members of the forum due to arrive on Monday in Switzerland, where guests will range from the Chinese president Xi Jinping, to pop star Shakira, the WEF released its own inclusive growth and development report in which it said median income had fallen by an average of 2.4% between 2008 and 2013 across 26 advanced nations.

Norway, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Iceland and Denmark filled the top five places in the WEF’s inclusive development index, with Britain 21st and the US 23rd. The body that organises the Davos event said rising inequality was not an “iron law of capitalism”, but a matter of making the right policy choices.

The WEF report found that 51% of the 103 countries for which data was available saw their inclusive development index scores decline over the past five years, “attesting to the legitimacy of public concern and the challenge facing policymakers regarding the difficulty of translating economic growth into broad social progress.”

Basing its research on the Forbes rich list and data provided by investment bank Credit Suisse, Oxfam said the vast majority of people in the bottom half of the world’s population were facing a daily struggle to survive, with 70% of them living in low-income countries.


It was four years since the WEF had first identified inequality as a threat to social stability, but that the gap between rich and poor has continued to widen, Oxfam added.

“From Brexit to the success of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, a worrying rise in racism and the widespread disillusionment with mainstream politics, there are increasing signs that more and more people in rich countries are no longer willing to tolerate the status quo,” the report said.

The charity said new information had shown that poor people in China and India owned even fewer assets than previously thought, making the wealth gap more pronounced than it thought a year ago, when it announced that 62 billionaires owned the same wealth as the poorest half of the global population.

Mark Goldring, chief executive of Oxfam GB, said: “This year’s snapshot of inequality is clearer, more accurate and more shocking than ever before. It is beyond grotesque that a group of men who could easily fit in a single golf buggy own more than the poorest half of humanity.

“While one in nine people on the planet will go to bed hungry tonight, a small handful of billionaires have so much wealth they would need several lifetimes to spend it. The fact that a super-rich elite are able to prosper at the expense of the rest of us at home and overseas shows how warped our economy has become.”

Mark Littlewood, director general at the Institute of Economic Affairs thinktank, said: “Once again Oxfam have come out with a report that demonizes capitalism, conveniently skimming over the fact that free markets have helped over 100 million people rise out of poverty in the last year alone.”

The Oxfam report added that since 2015 the richest 1% has owned more wealth than the rest of the planet. It said that over the next 20 years, 500 people will hand over $2.1tn to their heirs – a sum larger than the annual GDP of India, a country with 1.3 billion people. Between 1988 and 2011 the incomes of the poorest 10% increased by just $65, while the incomes of the richest 1% grew by $11,800 – 182 times as much.
 

Oxfam called for fundamental change to ensure that economies worked for everyone, not just “a privileged few.”

*Photo by Altaf Qadri, courtesy of the Associated Press

Egypt's 'Maximum Wage' - Contradictions & Conflicting Information

Mada Masr

Hitting the salary ceiling

Egypt’s new maximum wage law is cloaked in confusion and conflicting information

 

Sunday July 27, 2014

 

Jano Charbel and Isabel Esterman

 

During a June 24 speech, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi declared that no public employee in Egypt would be paid more than LE42,000 per month, the same salary the president is entitled to.

  A month later, a decree by Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb gave more detail about how a new maximum wage law is to be implemented. Debate has since raged over the wisdom of capping wages, with opponents and proponents taking to the media to argue their positions.

The maximum wage ceiling of LE42,000 per month (US$6,000) has been criticized by high-earners as being too little, while labor groups say it’s too much.

For nearly seven years, labor activists have been demanding a monthly minimum wage of LE1,200 and a maximum wage of no more than 15 times that amount. Since the January 2011 uprising, successive governments have promised to forge ahead with one that’s 30-40 times the minimum, in an attempt to address demands for social justice.

The new law finally sets the maximum wage at 35 times the minimum received by public sector employees.

According to worker and activist Nagy Rashad, “The maximum wage is a good starting point for the realization of social justice. It will be a positive step forward if the ruling authorities are actually able to implement it.”

However, he still maintains that the maximum wage is excessive. “The income differential is very large — this is not what we were hoping for,” he says.

Sources familiar with the wage structure of public sector companies say that the LE42,000 ceiling will not affect the vast majority of workers.

Eslam, a National Bank of Egypt employee, who asked that his last name not be used, explains that entry level workers earn LE2,000-3,000 per month, rising to LE9,000 after years of experience.

Branch managers can earn around LE20,000 per month. Only board members and top managers, who are eligible for huge bonuses and profit sharing schemes, can expect to earn more than LE42,000 monthly.

In the petroleum sector, only a few top managers and board members are likely to exceed the maximum wage. Nonetheless, for those at the top end of the scale, the cap has come as unwelcome news.

In press statements issued this month, spokespersons from the Central Bank of Egypt and other public sector banks expressed concern that the new maximum wage law may deter young bankers from working in the public sector. They would instead seek employment in private sector banks were there is no ceiling, leaving public institutions vulnerable to a lack of skills and experienced labor.

According to Angus Blair, head of the Cairo-based Signet Institute, this may not be a bad move for the country, which is burdened by a huge public sector wage bill.

“Egypt needs to send more people to the private sector,” he says. “It’s sending a message to say ‘if you want a decent salary, the government is not for you.’”

Enforcing a maximum wage law also signals an end to the old days, where Egyptian ministerial employees might expect to out-earn their counterparts in Europe. Blair says it also sends a message of  “no more corruption of high salaries.”

Rashad, however, worries that a wage cap could push some of Egypt’s brightest talents out of the country entirely — a country in which many competent and skilled laborers already seek job opportunities abroad.

Despite his general stance that the maximum wage is excessive, he does call for exceptions in special cases.

“Someone of the caliber of Dr. Ahmed Zuweil, or his like, should not be confined to LE42,000 per month, otherwise they'll opt to work elsewhere in the world,” he said in reference to the internationally renowned Egyptian chemist/physicist and Nobel prize winner.
 
LEGISLATIVE LOGISTICS

There are two decrees regulating Egypt’s new maximum wage: Presidential decree 63/2014, concerning the maximum income for state employees — issued on July 2, and prime ministerial decree 1265/2014, issued July 19, which sets the executive regulations pertaining to decree 63/2014.

The former sets the maximum wage as a law to be imposed nationwide on all state ministries, authorities and public sector offices, while the latter specifies the detailed regulations of this legislation.

The second decree stipulates in Article 1 that the net sum income will be capped at LE42,000 per month, with no exemptions in the form of additional bonuses, extra wages, monetary benefits or pay raises. This is significant, since such bonuses often form the bulk of wage packets in Egypt.

However, this does not include transportation or accommodation allowances for work, missions, or any other official business.

Article 2 lists the 30 state sectors to whom these regulations apply, which include public sector banks, the judiciary, police, armed forces, ministries, state-appointed national councils, public sector utilities and service companies. The maximum wage also applies to state-employed advisers, technicians, experts and specialists.

However, the provisions of this law do not apply to diplomats, consular staff, commercial/trade officials or any other official representing the Egyptian state abroad.

In an interview with the Sada al-Balad news outlet this month, Prime Minister Mehleb explained that these categories of civil servants are exempt from the maximum wage in order “to maintain their high performance” and “in light of the high living expenses abroad.”

According to Article 3 of the law, committees or working groups are to be established within each state body to monitor the maximum wage as well as to earmark all money in excess to specialized bank accounts or to the Ministry of Finance.

Those who earn more than the maximum wage have to settle any overpayment within 30 days of the end of the year.

Article 4 states that in the case of non-compliance, the government can deduct additional income from employees, beginning in December in the year following the year of payment. Any money deducted is to be sent to the public treasury.

According to Article 5, state entities employing consultants or specialists must disclose any payment to state auditors within 30 days. Failure to do so will lead to a disciplinary hearing, and could result in the consultant being obliged to return any remuneration he or she received.

The law leaves a number of questions unanswered. For example, it is unclear how the salary structure will be adjusted in agencies where employees at various levels of seniority are currently earning more than LE42,000 a month.

The language in the law also refers to “year of payment,” an obscure term that leaves room for confusion as to whether regulations are linked to calendar or fiscal year. It is also unclear how the new legislation will affect entities, such as petroleum companies, that are joint ventures between the Egyptian state and foreign investors. 

The law also does not clarify the extent to which the committees tasked with monitoring enforcement in each state agency will be subject to independent oversight. Nor is it clear how much money the government hopes to save by enforcing a maximum wage.

Figures issued by the state’s financial authorities suggest enforcing a maximum wage will save LE2 billion per year, while other sources have claimed it will save the public treasury LE13 billion.

While the law is set to enter into effect by the end of this month, whether or not state authorities will comply is another matter. 

The lack of clarity surrounding the maximum wage law has led to officials waging a battle for public opinion via the pages of local newspapers.

A number of statements attributed to Hesham Geneina, head of the Central Auditing Organization, have accused various state agencies — including the judiciary and police — of refusing to cooperate. Meanwhile, the organizations named have taken to the media to refute the claims. 

In terms of state officials with the highest pay, media attention has focused primarily on board members of public-sector banks, ministers, the judiciary, diplomats and generals in the both the police and armed forces. However, virtually none of these highly-paid categories have admitted to earning LE42,000 per month, while all authorities have claimed that they are in compliance, or are in the process of doing so.
 
YEARS IN THE MAKING

The idea of setting a maximum wage is not a novel concept introduced by the new president or his prime minister — it dates back well over 40 years. Article 24 of the 1971 Constitution calls for both minimum and maximum wages to be set.

An amended form of this provision was included in Article 14 of the Muslim Brotherhood-era 2012 Constitution.

In April 2012, under the Muslim Brotherhood-dominated parliament, a maximum wage of LE50,000 was reportedly imposed on all ministers and members of parliament — although these regulations were criticized on the basis that they were not comprehensively implemented amongst leading state employees.

Moreover, there were exemptions from the maximum wage for certain categories of advisors, scientists and technical specialists.

In the new 2014 Constitution, Article 27 also stipulates for both a minimum and maximum wage. Yet, there are concerns over the actual implementation of both.

In January of this year, a monthly minimum wage of LE1,200 was issued by law, yet, out of a total workforce of some 27 million, only some 4.9 million public sector employees were granted this new wage. The public sector employs some seven million people.

“The ruling authorities seek to portray themselves as being populist leaders of a populist government, much like [ousted President Hosni] Mubarak sought to portray himself to the populace,” says labor activist Rashad.

“I expect that heavyweight officials and the ruling regime’s fat cats are going to find a way to exempt themselves from the maximum wage and its regulations,” he suspects, saying that since the minimum wage law is weakly enforced, the maximum would be also.


*Photo courtesy of Royalty Free Stock Photos

Egypt: Call for general strike falters but not in vain

Ahram Online
Egypt's general strike call founders but not in vain

Although calls for a three-day strike by political and student movements were ineffective, some believe the effort was not in vain

Wednesday, 15 Feb. 2012

Dina Samak


Faisal Abdel Aziz, a banker in his early thirties was still optimistic as he went to work Monday morning. "The revolution continues,” he says, "even if one action fails. We still have to try and learn from our mistakes."


Abdel Aziz is not a member of any revolutionary group or political party but still sees himself as part of the revolution. "I've been to most of the protests in Tahrir Square since the beginning of the 18-day uprising. This year, on the anniversary of January 25, I marched all the way from Maadi to Tahrir Square to call on the ruling military council to handover power to a civil authority."

The banker, however, chose not to heed calls for a nationwide general strike planned for Saturday, 11 February. Calls for a general strike aimed at pressuring the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) to handover power to a civil authority were triggered by a number of university student unions and adopted by a handful of leftist and liberal parties as well as revolutionary groups.

"I don't work on Saturday anyway, and all I could do Sunday is take sick leave," explains Abdel Aziz. It would have been very hard for him to announce that he was on strike, he added, as the call to action did not draw much sympathy in his work place.

In the days running up to the strike, the Egyptian media engrossed itself in talk of the looming trade unionist action, slandering its organisers and calling for stability. But on the first day of the planned three-day strike, it became clear to supporters and detractors alike that the strike was to be grounded before it could even pick up pace.

However, a new debate was soon sparked, as supporters of the call questioned whether the less than stellar response should be read as a major setback.

"I am not depressed at all,” says Gihan Shaban, one of the founders of the Socialist Popular Alliance Party, a political backer of the strike action. "I never expected the strike to succeed anyway; rather our support for these calls was rooted in our belief that collective action – in the form of work stoppage – is a legitimate protest tool. We also wanted to declare our support for the demands raised by the student unions who called for the strike."

For Shaban, current economic conditions in Egypt are ripe for a major strike wave, but it is yet-unclear when this could happen. In fact a number of workers strikes did take place before or during the three days of the so-called general strike. The workers who participated in these actions, however, were very careful not to link their industrial action on the shop floor with what was happening on the political scene.

Ain Al-Sokhna port workers, who had announced plans to begin an open strike 9 February against Dubai port operator DP World, decided instead to return to negotiations sponsored by the Suez governor and a number of MPs. When negotiations failed, the port workers decided to start their strike on 12 February, making it clear that their action had nothing to do with the call for a general strike.

"We have nothing against the call," said Hamada Kamel the head of the port's labour union, "The problem is that most of the workers were worried their demands would get lost amongst the general demands of the national strike." Kamel told Ahram Online that on many occasions many port workers would participate in Suez's political protests individually, but most were reluctant to take their political beliefs to work.

"This is exactly the reason why the general strike failed to happen," says Shaban, clarifying that "many of the workers who are actually a part of the revolution do not link their economic demands to political demands; and the political movement for its part has so far failed to bridge the gap between both."

The socialist activist, who was herself involved in solidarity campaigns with workers strikes under ousted president Hosni Mubarak, thinks that Saturday's ineffective strike action could send a good message to Egypt's revolutionary forces: "Tahrir is not the revolution, and they (the revolutionary forces) need to approach the working class that is already trying to organise itself."

Shaban's message was well received by university students, according to Mahmoud Nawar, a student at Helwan University as well as a political activist. "Strikes at universities have attracted a large number of students who have become aware that they cannot fight alone," he said, as he marched on campus with dozens of other students. The slogans used by the students reflected Nawar's sentiment. "We the students together with workers unite against the capitalist gang" was one of the many economic and socially charged slogans widely used in the march.

"Many students were not politicised prior to the revolution and others only came around when they found their colleagues getting killed in protests. The students movement is reviving, and those who called for the strike on 11 February are now aware that they need the workers. The student movement like the whole political movement in Egypt learns from its experience."

According to Nawar some students are now trying to create a national committee for students to collectively organise future student action around the country as well as facilitate coordination with trade unions. This kind of coordination was only present in Egypt in 1946 when workers and students established what was known as the Higher Committee for Students and Workers against British Occupation.

Nawar, like many young political activists, believes that Egypt's protest movement needs to do more to further its demands than simply demonstrating in Tahrir Square. "The protests are important of course, and the marches against military rule on the revolution's anniversary were proof that the revolutionary spirit still exists and is growing," he explains. "But after the Port Said massacre that left more than 70 dead and the ensuing clashes that saw police leaving at least 15 dead outside the interior ministry, it became clear that we have to do more than just confront the police until we are killed or injured."

The call for a general strike, according to Nawar, revealed a new direction the movement could take. However, the lack of organisation cited by both Nawar and Shaban as the reason behind the political movement's failure to effectively organise industrial action, is not the real reason according to other parties that refused to rally around the strike.

The Muslim Brotherhood and its political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), snubbed the call from the beginning and called on people to not participate. The FJP's position was the subject of often fierce criticism by those who called for the strike, who reminded the Brotherhood that they had a totally different position towards the calls for a general strike in 2008.

In 6 April that year the response to the call by anti-Mubarak movement Kefaya and other political groups in solidarity with Mahalla Textile workers was not big either. The Muslim Brotherhood, however, defended the call as a peaceful means of anti-regime expression.

Brotherhood students at Cairo University issued a statement on the first day of the strike saying that they agree with the student movement's demands, declaring their respect of strikes as a peaceful tool for political expression. They too did not call on students to participate and did not go on strike themselves.

Member of Parliament Mohamed Beltagy, who is also a member of the Executive Office of the FJP, stated on Sunday that what happened Saturday was a protest, not a general strike or civil disobedience.

"We succeeded in electing a People’s Assembly that truly represents us all. It is only appropriate for us now to turn to that elected body with our demands which it shall meet," said the MB Secretary-General. "We have to be patient, though. There are many demands, and the new parliament has to effect reforms of thirty years of rampant corruption, which cannot be done in one day."

For Beltagy and other MB leaders, Egypt is still in need of protests and sit-ins to pressure government to enact reforms and to achieve the demands of the revolution, however a general strike is not needed and that is why the Egyptian people did not respond to the calls.

Abdel Aziz thinks that the media played a role in making his colleagues at the bank look suspiciously towards the call for a general strike. "Many of my friends who are pro-revolution did not understand what is meant by a general strike in the first place, and others believed that it would negatively affect the country's security and economy as the main stream media propagated," he says.

"There were no strikes in work places, at least not as far as I know, but the calls for one were really successful, because at least people now know what it means."


*Photo by Mai Shaheen

Photos: 'Occupy London' - St. Paul's & Finsbury Sq.

*ENCAMPMENT AT SAINT PAUL'S CATHEDRAL*

Hundreds of 'Occupy London' protesters outside Saint Paul's Cathedral. "Capitalism is Crisis" indeed! Photos taken October 22.


The 'Occupy London' protests began on October 16, and are ongoing.


Dozens of tents have been pitched outside the cathedral. Protesters continue their occupation and sleep-in despite the cold weather and rain.


"Bankers are the real looters!"


People not profits.


Protesters call on passing vehicles to beep, or honk their horns, in solidarity.


Very valid question on the placard.


Speeches are delivered (even I had the honor of addressing the protesters,) poems are recited, and songs are performed throughout the day and night.


*FINSBURY SQUARE ENCAMPMENT*


On October 22, 'Occupy London' protesters expanded their protest action, and moved in to occupy the nearby Finsbury Square. Photos of this occupation taken on October 24.


"Capitalism (sure as hell) isn't working!" Encampment in Finsbury Sq.


End corporate greed, stop the bankers' global plundering. Smash Capitalism!


Direct democracy meeting point in Finsbury Square - The People's Assembly.


English protests continue, despite the (clearly) awful English autumn weather.


Communal kitchen, communal dish-washing.


Young activist hums and whistles through his megaphone.


Activists play their instruments in Finsbury Square, for the sake of making music and for radical sing-alongs.


The encampment in Finsbury Square, Moorgate - financial centers, office buildings and banks all around.


Like the sign says.


Pigs in their wagon, parked outside the square. The pigs patrolled around the encampment in their vehicles or on foot, but they have no pretext to enter this peacefully-occupied park.

People of the world, reclaim your public spaces!

Photos: "Occupy Berlin" - Day 5

Some 7,000 German protesters are estimated to have participated in the "Occupy Berlin" action on October 16 - outside the Bundestag. In smaller numbers, the "Occupy Berlin" protest carried on for several more days.


German activists protested against high unemployment rates amongst youth, rising rents, increasing wealth disparities, along with the injustices of capitalism and the banking system.


On October 20, the fifth day of this mobile "Occupy Berlin" action, tens of activists chanted slogans for social justice outside Germany's parliament.


Hundreds of other German activists took part in "Occupy Wall Street" style protests staged in Frankfurt and Cologne, on October 16.

Occupy Wall St.-inspired protests spreading worldwide

Detroit Free Press
Occupy Wall Street-inspired protests spreading around the world

Oct. 17, 2011


Protesters opposed to economic inequality gathered on four continents over the weekend, camping out from Hong Kong to London, as a Rome rally turned violent and police in New York and Chicago arrested more than 250 people.

The Occupy Wall Street demonstrations that began last month in Lower Manhattan migrated uptown Saturday, as about 6,000 people gathered in Times Square during what organizers called a "global day of action against Wall Street greed."

There were 92 arrests, according to the New York Police Department. More than 100 people were injured in Rome, where as many as 200,000 amassed, the Corriere della Sera newspaper reported.

Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan was among 19 demonstrators arrested early Sunday in the California state capital of Sacramento. A police spokeswoman said 18 other demonstrators also were arrested.

In Detroit, more than 100 demonstrators remained at Grand Circus Park on Sunday at the close of a quiet weekend.

Chicago police arrested about 175 protesters in Grant Park about 1 a.m. Sunday after they refused to disperse, the Chicago Tribune reported.


In London, more than 250 people camped out overnight in the plaza in front of St. Paul's Cathedral, organizers said, and 87 tents remained at midday. Banners attached to the tents included signs reading "People Before Profit" and "The People are Too Big to Fail," while protesters made speeches from the steps of the cathedral using megaphones.

Demonstrators plan to stay "as long as it takes," Spyro van Leemnen, a supporter of Occupy London Stock Exchange, said in a phone interview. The cathedral is on the edge of the city's financial district.

Sydney, Toronto and other cities also saw protests in support of the month-old movement, which organizers say represents the 99%, a nod to Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz's study showing the top 1% of Americans control 40% of U.S. wealth.

In Hong Kong, protests extended for a second day Sunday in the central financial district. Demonstrations also were held in Seoul, South Korea; Taipei, Taiwan, and Tokyo.

Occupy Wall Street shows that Americans want a "financial system that works" and don't want new banking rules overturned, a chief campaign strategist for President Barack Obama said.

"I don't think any American is impressed when they see Gov. (Mitt) Romney and all the Republican (presidential) candidates say the first thing they'd do is roll back Wall Street reforms and go back to where we were before the crisis and let Wall Street write its own rules," David Axelrod said on ABC's "This Week."

Photos: Zurich, Switzerland - "Occupy Paradeplatz"

On October 16 activists worldwide staged protests and actions in solidarity with the "Occupy Wall Street" movement. In Zurich, Switzerland some 2,000 activists protested in the city's financial district.


Swiss activists chose to "Occupy Paradeplatz." A number of banks are located in Paradeplatz, including Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS,) and Credit Suisse amongst others. It is the ideal spot in Zurich to protest against the injustices of the banking system.


Protesters and activists held-up banners denouncing capitalism, and its growing wealth disparities.


Capitalism is a virus.


Activists of all shades and colors attended this protest - including the Swiss Social Democratic Party, the Young Socialists, Trotskyists, Marxists, anarchists, greens, trade unions, members of the Swiss Zeitgeist Movement, along with unaffiliated activists and students.


Swiss protesters saw "Occupy Paradeplatz" as part of a larger global protest movement. The spirit of internationalism was clearly present.


A number of activists donned costumes mocking bankers, capitalists, and the 'super-rich.'


Protester dressed as the 'UBS Monster.'


Despite the large numbers of protesters, "Occupy Paradeplatz" was a peaceful and non-violent event.


The participants did not block the tramways, transport services flowed smoothly through Paradeplatz. The roads were left open, and traffic around the square was not obstructed.


Activists poured into Paradeplatz throughout the day, their numbers swelling in the late afternoon.


By nightfall, a number of the "Occupy Paradeplatz" activists moved their protest site to a nearby park.


Tents were pitched in the park, and the "Occupy Paradeplatz" protest continued for several more days.


A similar protest was staged in Geneva. Further "Occupy Wall Street" style protests are reportedly being planned in Switzerland.

S. Koreans hold 'Occupy Wall St.' protest in Seoul

The Korea Herald
South Koreans hold 'Occupy Wall Street' protest in Seoul

October 15, 2011

SEOUL, Oct. 15 (Yonhap) -- A group of South Korean activists are set to occupy the streets of Seoul on Saturday to protest the greed of conglomerates and the widening income gap, joining the "Occupy Wall Street" movement that originated in the United States.

The association of 30 local civic groups said it will hold a two-day "Occupy Seoul" protest around the capital city, including the main financial district in Yeouido, on Saturday and Sunday.

It said the rally is aimed at galvanizing "99 percent of Koreans" to stand up against the superwealthy "1 percent" they see in control and benefiting from a toxic financial environment, echoing claims by anti-Wall Street protesters.

"The situation is the same in South Korea, where the financial institutions have speculated to earn high profits in a short time, creating victims," the group said in a statement, demanding compensation for victims who lost money due to banks' risky business operations.

The group said it also plans to urge the government to strengthen regulations on financial institutions, create more jobs and curb housing prices and cut expensive college tuitions.

Seoul police warned that they will take stern action against protesters who violate the law during the rally, such as those who damage public facilities, occupy roads and assault police officers.

"We will arrest those who stage illegal protests on the spot and also seek legal action even after the rally ends," the Seoul Metropolitan Agency said in a release.

A preliminary version of the rally was held Friday night in front of Seoul City Hall, which ended up voicing opposition to the U.S. FTA, among other issues, rather than banks. No major clashes were reported.

Wall Street protest grows as unions swell ranks

Reuters
Wall Street protest grows as unions swell ranks

Oct. 5, 2011

Protests in New York number at least 5,000. Workers, the unemployed bolster protest numbers.

Ray Sanchez

NEW YORK, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Thousands of anti-Wall Street demonstrators converged on New York's financial district on Wednesday, their ranks swelled by nurses, transit workers and other union members joining the protest over economic inequality and the power of U.S. financial institutions.

The Occupy Wall Street march, estimated at about 5,000 people, was loud but orderly and the largest so far, while smaller protests were staged in cities and on college campuses across the country.

The protesters object to the Wall Street bailout in 2008, which they say left banks to enjoy huge profits while average Americans suffered under high unemployment and job insecurity with little help from the federal government.

The movement has surged in less than three weeks from a ragged group in downtown Manhattan to protesters of all ages demonstrating from Seattle to Tampa.

"I am a mother. I want a better world for my children," said Lisa Clapier, 46, a producer who lives in Venice, California, who joined protesters in Los Angeles.

In Seattle, where protesters had set up an encampment in a city park, about two dozen people were arrested for defying police orders to dismantle their tents.

"The cops are doing their job, and we're going to let them do their job. Then we'll come back and occupy the park again," said Michael Trimarco, 39, an unemployed carpenter.

Joining the march in New York were members of the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, Communications Workers of America, the Amalgamated Transit Union and National Nurses United.

"Our workers are excited about this movement. The country has been turned upside down, said United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew.

In San Francisco, a crowd of several hundred people marched around the financial district, chanting "They got bailed out, we got sold out" and "Join our ranks, stop the banks."

"This is the beginning of a movement," said Sidney Gillette, a nurse at Children's Hospital in Oakland.

Filmmaker Michael Moore was among the crowd in New York, shaking hands and posing for pictures.

"Everywhere you go in this country, you see the Occupy Wall Street movement," he said. "In the first days, people were putting it down, saying these are a bunch of hippies.

"But the average American who has lost health care, who is going to lose his job, whose home is in foreclosure can relate to this," he said.

Camped out in a park in downtown Manhattan, the New York protesters have been dismissed at times by Wall Street passersby or cast as naive students and mischief makers without realistic goals.

But, said office manager Hari Bala, who stopped to watch the protest as he left work, that perception may be changing.

"It took young people to take risk, for people to take to the streets," he said. "They have reminded everybody about the realities of this country."

STUDENTS JOIN IN

There were signs that the protesters were catching the attention of Washington politicians. U.S. Representative Louise Slaughter, a New York Democrat, endorsed the movement.

"The gap between the haves and have nots continues to widen in the wake of the 2008 recession, precipitated by the banking industry. Yet we are told we cannot afford to raise taxes on millionaires and billionaires," she said in a statement. "I'm so proud to see the Occupy Wall Street movement standing up to this rampant corporate greed."

Students on college campuses added their voices. At the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, students walked out of their classrooms at noon, holding signs reading "Eat the Elite" and "We Can Do Better than Capitalism."

The protests began in New York on Sept 17 and have spread to Los Angeles, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Tampa, St. Louis and elsewhere. A protest in planned in Washington on Thursday.

The protests have been largely peaceful, although last Saturday in New York, more than 700 people were arrested when demonstrators blocked traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge.

In Boston, where protesters have set up a makeshift camp in the financial district, Lisa Doherty, 56, said she comes to the encampment every day and plans to do so indefinitely.

She said she worked in mortgage loan processing but has been unemployed for more than three years.

"I have five children and seven grandchildren, and I want them to grow up in a better world with more equality and without corporations buying our politicians," she said.

In Chicago, office worker Tom McClurg, 52, said Wednesday was the first day he had joined protesters gathered in the financial district.

"I'm hoping it's going to raise awareness here of people's opposition to domination by financial interest of their elected representatives," he said, adding, "I think there are a million times more people not here who are sympathetic."

* Additional reporting by Lauren Keiper in Boston, Jonathan Weber in San Francisco, Nicole Neroulias in Seattle, R.T. Watson in Los Angeles, Zach Howard in Amherst, Massachusetts, Mary Wisniewski in Chicago, Tom Ferraro in Washington and Mark Egan in New York; Writing by Ellen Wulfhorst, Editing by Paul Simao

Clashes in Athens as workers strike against cuts

Reuters
Clashes in Athens as workers strike against cuts

* Police fire tear gas at stone-throwing youths

* Trains halted, flights grounded in nationwide strike

* State workers protest against wage cuts, layoffs

By Renee Maltezou and Yannis Behrakis

ATHENS, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Riot police fired teargas at stone-throwing youths in central Athens on Wednesday as thousands of striking Greek state sector workers marched against cuts the government says are needed to save the nation from bankruptcy.

Youths broke up marble paving slabs in central Syntagma Square and hurled the chunks at police in full riot gear. The police responded by firing teargas grenades and chasing the protesters through the square and into surrounding streets.

Flights were grounded, schools shut and government offices closed in Greece's first nationwide walkout in months. Labour leaders call it the start of a campaign to derail emergency austerity steps launched last month by a government that has already imposed two years of tax hikes and wage cuts.

Greece's worsening debt crisis poses a risk to the euro currency and the international financial system. Reforms to Greek finances took on a new urgency this week after the government announced it would miss its 2011 deficit target.

Thousands of state workers, pensioners and students had gathered peacefully, beating drums and waving banners reading "Erase the debt!" and "The rich must pay". They marched into the square outside parliament where lawmakers were debating holding a referendum on the response to the fiscal crisis.

Reuters saw one bare-chested man covered in his own blood, rescued by bystanders after clashing with demonstrators. Protesters tried to storm an Economy Ministry building, shattering heavy glass at the entrance.

Sporadic scuffles between baton-wielding police and stone-throwing youths continued for several hours.

Police said at least two police and two civilians were hurt and 12 people detained. Violence was far milder than in June, when more than 100 people were injured in battles between demonstrators and police in Syntagma Square.

The strikes forced hospitals to run on emergency staff and the closure of some state schools. Trains were halted, and more than 400 flights were cancelled at Athens airport. The Athens Acropolis and major museums were shut.

Despite its new measures demanded by the EU and IMF, the government was forced to announce this week it would still fall short of its 2011 deficit target by nearly 2 billion euros, rattling global markets. Polls show nearly four of five Greeks expect a default on the massive national debt within months.

"We want this government out. They deceived us. They promised to tax the rich and help the poor, but they didn't," said Sotiris Pelekanos, 39, an engineer and one of the striking workers gathered in central Athens. "I don't care if we go bankrupt. We are already bankrupt."

Greece's main labour unions ADEDY and GSEE expect hundreds of thousands of people to walk off the job.

"They are not trying to save Greece. They are just killing workers," ADEDY Vice President Ilias Vrettakos said in a rally speech. "They should get the money from the rich, not from us."

Private sector workers did not participate in the strike but will take part in a bigger general strike on Oct. 19. Many in the Greek private sector resent perks of state workers, who are protected from layoffs by the constitution.

SCRAMBLE TO PROTECT BANKS

Greece's announcement this week that it would not meet its 2011 deficit target has put in doubt the viability of a 109 billion euro bailout agreed in July -- the second huge bailout in two years. If that deal must be renegotiated, European banks that hold Greek debt could suffer a heavy blow.

EU officials are scrambling to protect banks from a repeat of the crisis that froze the world financial system in 2008.

They have postponed until mid-November a decision on whether to approve the next 8 billion euro ($10.7 billion) tranche of bailout loans, giving negotiators more time to press the government to enact promised reforms.

A senior official from the "troika" of EU, IMF and European Central Bank negotiators in Athens since last week, told Reuters the tranche would probably be approved, but only if the government proves first it can enact reforms.

In more bad economic news on Wednesday, Greece's statistics agency produced revised numbers showing that recession began nearly four years ago, a year earlier than previously thought. The government now says the economy, which was to have resumed growth next year, will instead shrink by another 2.5 percent.

Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said on Tuesday Greek finances for this year could slip even further behind its target if the country failed to rally round the reforms and show "national cohesion and solidarity".

His government has promised to hold a referendum on the fiscal crisis this autumn but has not said what question Greeks would be asked. Parliament debated the referendum law on Wednesday as the protesters gathered outside.

Labour unions say the recession has been prolonged and deepened by government salary cuts, tax hikes and layoffs.

"The government is panicking and has no strategy," said Thessaloniki port (OLTr.AT) unionist Fani Gourgouri. "These measures are only extending poverty. We'd be willing to shoulder the cost and say 'yes' to austerity if they proceeded with reforms that would create jobs instead of cutting them."

*Additional reporting by Ingrid Melander and Harry Papachristou; Writing by Peter Graff

Labor unions give Wall St. protesters additional momentum

Associated Press
Unions give Wall Street protesters some oomph

10.05.11

By DEEPTI HAJELA and VERENA DOBNIK

NEW YORK -- A diverse group of powerful unions joined demonstrations near Wall Street on Wednesday, lending some focus, credibility and potentially hundreds of participants to a group that started out with a few camped-out college students.

Among those planning to join the clamor were members of the Chinatown Tenants Union and the Transit Workers Union, the liberal group MoveOn.org, and community organizations like the Working Families Party and United NY. Organizers have called for students at college campuses across the nation to walk out of class in protest.

"We're really excited that labor is part of the protest," said Sara Niccoli, spokeswoman for the Labor-Religion Coalition, an Albany, N.Y.-based organization that aims to "do justice" for workers.

On Wednesday, the groups will embark on a march starting at Foley Square in lower Manhattan, an area encircled by courthouses and named for "Big Tom" Foley, a former blacksmith's helper who became a prominent New York Democratic Party leader.

The marchers will head to Zuccotti Park, the unofficial headquarters where protesters have been camped out in sleeping bags. It's unclear how many people will be joining the march on Wednesday, but some organizers said thousands could show up.

The Occupy Wall Street protests started on Sept. 17 with a few dozen demonstrators who tried to pitch tents in front of the New York Stock Exchange. Since then, hundreds have set up camp in a park nearby and have become increasingly organized, lining up medical aid and legal help and printing their own newspaper, the Occupied Wall Street Journal. Other groups have periodically gathered and protested in spots throughout the country.

Police said that United NY had sought a permit for the rally Wednesday and were expecting about 2,000. They were planning to use microphones at the square, but not at the park.

"I think they're capturing a feel of disempowerment, feeling like nobody is listening to them," said Camille Rivera, executive director of United NY. "What do you do when no one is listening to you? You speak up, you take action."

No one needs a permit to protest. Picket lines and marches go on nearly every day in New York. But a permit allows demonstrators to do things that would normally be illegal - like filling an entire street. During the U.N. General Assembly, thousands of protesters took to the streets, but police were aware and facilitated and planned for traffic disruptions.

But, for example, during one day of the assembly, six demonstrators attempted to block traffic and were arrested.

"That was more in the tradition of civil disobedience," said Paul Browne, spokesman for the NYPD. "It seemed their aim was to get arrested."

About 700 members of the Wall Street group were arrested and given disorderly conduct summonses for spilling into the roadway of the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday despite warnings from police.

It's not clear whether the protesters meant it as civil disobedience; some say they were tricked by police into entering the road and were wrongly arrested. Police video shows officers with bullhorns telling them to keep off the road.

Browne said that the department is prepared for a large group march Wednesday, and that officers were anticipating spillover onto the streets.

"Officers will be in the lane next to the sidewalk, and we will try to keep people on the sidewalk, but we realize they may need to walk on the street if it's crowded," he said.

The type of activity that could result in arrest would be if members of the group, say, purposefully try to stop traffic on Broadway, Browne said.

MoveOn.org is planning a "virtual march" on its website by encouraging people to post photos of themselves with the caption: "I'm the 99 percent" - a reference to those people not among the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans and the debate over whether they should be taxed more. The group's executive director, Justin Ruben, called the protesters "brave young people" who have successfully inspired others to join them.

"From our perspective, we're protesting kind of the greed that led to the collapse of our economy," Ruben said. "The fact that these banks aren't paying their fair share."