Muslim Brotherhood promotes its businessmen club

Ahram Online
Brotherhood business heads enter spotlight

Sunday 25 Mar 2012

Created by Muslim Brotherhood business owners, the 150-member strong Egyptian Businessmen Development Association was launched Saturday evening with 1,000 guests in attendance

Salma Hussein


Outside the ballroom of the five-star hotel, bearded men in well-cut suits rush to line up for sunset prayers beside a banner announcing the day's event.

Piety and commerce side-by-side, this was the scene at the Saturday launch of the Muslim Brotherhood-majority business lobby, the Egyptian Businessmen Development Association (EBDA, which also means 'start' in Arabic).

The one-day event for around 1,000 guests ended with a gala dinner and three main guest speakers -- a business tycoon apiece from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Turkey.

It had eight sponsors, among them two American multinationals: Price Cooper Waterhouse and Hill International.

"Hill International is mulling becoming a member of the EBDA. We are also member in the American Chamber in Egypt," said Ahmed Thabet, director of sales in the construction risk management company, currently working on the Grand Egyptian Museum, due to open in 2014.

Other sponsors are firms that flourished during the reign of the ousted president Hosni Mubarak but have remained unsullied after post-uprising graft investigations: cable-maker El-Sewedy; the Alkan Group founded by the late Mohamed Nosseir; Juhayna, food producer and caterer to US bases in the Gulf; and Egyptians Steel.

"In the business world, they don't give much weight to political affiliations," explained Ahmed Zein of Memark, the consultancy firm which developed EBDA's logo and works on its branding.

"That said, we had to exclude sponsoring offers from other companies closer to the old regime. You would not find companies like Ceramica Cleopatra or Ezz Steel," he admitted, naming companies linked to allegedly corrupt figures.

"This would harm the image of this business association given the reputation it wants to build."

Zein also worked on marketing 'The Makers of Life' charity project started by the famed Islamist preacher, Amr Khaled.

The final two sponsors are directly related to the Brotherhood, the country's main Islamist force whose political wing now has a leading role in parliament, and owned by members Hassan Malek and Samir El-Naggar. The former owns the Malek Group, the latter an industrial agri-food firm.

It was Malek who came up with the idea of EBDA and is its first chairman.

Joining the board of EBDA, on which Brotherhood investors and traders sit, requires members to meet two conditions, says Zein.

First, their firms must be able to show a record clean of corruption. Second, they must be medium-sized companies able to help start-ups and smaller enterprises.

"To this date, we have 500 membership applications. We only accepted 150," said board member Ahmed Abdel Hafez, describing a fastidious selection process. Membership costs LE2,500, with an annual subscription of LE2,000.

"We decided to encourage SMEs by cutting subscription annual fees to LE500," Abdel Hafez added.

"We've also invited many companies to join us," said Abdel Moneim Seoudi, another board member, who was jailed in Mubarak's time.

The owner of a supermarket chain and car-dealership, he told Ahram Online that he had invited Beshay steel makers, a business owned by a Coptic Christian family, to join.

"I am confident they will," he says, before two Freedom and Justice Party parliamentarians, calling him "Abu Obayda", ask to pose for a photo with him.

Before Malek starts his speech, four large screens play footage from 2011's mass demonstrations in Cairo's Tahrir Square. Then the chairman takes to the stage.

"We seek empowerment for businessmen to boost economy. This comes through promoting investment and development but also through participating in decision making and economic legislature," he says, in words which at times echo those of Gamal Mubarak, the ousted president's 'business-friendly' son.

But for Malek the difference is in the players, not the supposed aims. He hails a "new class" of businessmen who will do things differently.

"It is time to take the lead. The corruption ring is now broken," he declares to the crowd. "We will support corporate governance and transparency in companies' management."

There is little information available about about the Malek Group, or indeed many other companies owned by members of the Brotherhood. During their years in the political opposition, many had to hide their sources of finance to avoid them being confiscated.

A few years ago, Malek's assets were frozen and he was tried before a military court. He was only cleared after the revolution.

None of these companies are listed on any stock markets, and hence deails on their sales revenues, activities and profits are not publicly available.

Despite being the majority party in parliament, the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice has not proposed any laws regarding corporate governance, corruption or conflict of interests.

According to a blog called Free Hassan Malek, created in 2007, Malek was an important trader, with his family known for investing in the spinning and weaving industry.

The blog claims that, the now 54-year-old Malek established a company called Salsabeel at the beginning of the 1990s. The firm has the same name as the lawsuit brought against members of the Muslim Brotherhood in 1992 after both Malek and his partner, Khairat El-Shater, were arrested.

Malek was put under provisional detention for a year before being released. He then branched into the furniture industry, establishing two Egypt-based companies that rely on imports from Turkey: Istikbal and Sirar.

But it is business itself that seems to be what intrigues Malek.

"We went through dozens of projects to adopt. We finally set our minds on two, following young businessmen advice," he told the EBDA meeting.

The association launches with a project to finance small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) clustered around bigger industry, working in partnership with the Social Fund for Development.
Another project aims to provide training programs to workers through their trade unions.

"There is a room for new business organisations," said another attendee, Alaa Ezz, an ex-member of the dissolved National Democratic Party (NDP) and current secretary general of the Confederation of Egyptian European Business Associations (CEEBA).

Sitting at the table nearest the podium and beside businessman Hussein Sabbour, Ezz said he welcomed the creation of the new business lobby and said he was attending as the secretary general of the Chambers of Commerce Federation.

"By law I have to be a member in every businessmen oganisation's board," he said, but added that he does not currently consider himself a member of EBDA.
Unlike Ezz, another attendee, Ahmed El-Swedy was enthusiastic about the association.

"Please let us look ahead," he said. "Islamists don't have enough experience and they need our help.

"Let's not start labelling people as Salafis, Copts or felool [remnants of the old regime]," he said in his speech. He told Ahram Online he has decided to become an EBDA member.

Egyptian Experiments in Workers' Self-Management

Al-Masry Al-Youm
Saturday 29, August 2009

Jano Charbel

We don't need no liquidation

One group of factory workers, abandoned by their owner, is running the factory themselves

When their owner fled the country ahead of a jail sentence, the employees at the Economic Company for Industrial Development, faced looming unemployment and the closure of the company's multiple textile factories. A common enough story in Egypt these days, but in this case, the workers instead embarked on a landmark labor experiment.

For nearly a year, three of the Economic Company’s textile factories in 10th of Ramadan City have essentially been running themselves. Granted the right to self-management by a September 2008 court decision, the workers are paying their own wages, handling customer orders and trying to clean up the financial mess left by the previous owner.

“Working here nowadays is sweet like honey," said Mohamed Youssef, a 12-year veteran of the company’s textile embroidery production line. “We have more rights and benefits as workers."

Youssef’s salary has jumped from LE 450 two years ago to LE 650 per month under the new system.

The arrangement has its difficulties, and the company may yet collapse under a massive burden of tax and utility bills, but for now it stands as a closely watched experiment for a country roiled by labor unrest.

The story began when Adel Agha, owner of the Ahmonseto Company, was sentenced to three years in prison in 2002 for bribery and evasion of customs taxes. Shortly after his release, Agha was caught up in another legal battle over bank loans, and fled the country in 2008 before being sentenced to 15 years in absentia.

Agha sought to liquidate his companies, which employed 5,000 workers, while the banks moved to sequester many of his assets. The Economic Company for Industrial Development, a subsidiary of Ahmonseto, controlled nine textile factories with more than 2,000 workers. Faced with unemployment, the workers petitioned for the right to run the factories themselves.


On September 5, 2008 a court granted the workers’ request. It was only the second time in modern Egyptian history such an experiment had been tried. Previously, a light bulb factory in the 10th of Ramadan industrial zone was fully self-managed by its workers after its owner, wealthy businessman and former MP Ramy Lakah, fled the country in 2001.

The workers at the Lakah-owned light bulb factory managed themselves from October 2001 to June 2006, when Lakah’s company again assumed ownership.

Over the past year of self-management, the employees at the Economic Company for Industrial Development have established their own local union committee and raised worker wages by nearly 50 per cent, said Ibrahim Othman, treasurer of the newly established local union committee. The new management was forced to close six out of the company’s nine factories, costing 1,500 jobs. However, the other three factories continue to function, keeping more than 500 workers employed.


The new found freedom and increased wages also come with their share of headaches.

“On the downside, however, we now have to chase after our customers and clients. We produce according to the orders we receive from each customer. Piecework is an unstable and unreliable source of income," said Othman. “Agha’s outlets, stores and showrooms, where our products were sold, have all shut down. Previously we exported to America and Australia, now it is our clients who export our products."

In addition, the company now has to pay millions of pounds worth of insurance fees and utility bills, plus the tens of millions of pounds worth of debt that Agha incurred from bank loans and accumulated interest. “If these huge debts were resolved then our wages and living standards would be greatly improved," said Othman.

Youssef, the veteran employee said, “Our only problems are that the banks and utility companies are always after us with their bills and fees. They have the power to pull the plug on this whole company. Our fate rests in their hands."

At the top of the company’s new hierarchy is the caretaker commissioner Ibrahim el-Hefny, who was originally appointed by Agha in 2006 as the company’s administrative president.

“The Ahmonseto Company has all the components necessary to operate in full capacity, to produce high quality goods and to be a successful company," el-Hefny told Al-Masry Al-Youm. “However, textile production is an extremely capital-intensive industry and we simply don’t have the capital to do so. This is why six out of the nine factories have shut down."

The Ministry of Manpower has paid the wages of the 1,500 workers who lost their jobs for the past seven months. However, that money, paid out of a special emergency fund, runs out this month, el-Hefny said.

Banks owed money by Agha have seized LE 52 million worth of fabric and garments belonging to Ahmonseto. The company’s new management has requested a LE 5 million loan to enable them to reopen the six closed factories and an unfreezing of their assets.

“We have received no form of assistance from the banks or from the General Union for Textile Workers. Only the Ministry of Manpower has stood by our side," el-Hefny said.

The General Union President, Saeed el-Gohary, could not be reached for comment.

Hefny said the future of both the Ahmonseto Company and the Economic Company for Industrial Development are to be determined by the decisions of the banks and utility companies. “They might decide to tear down this entire industrial complex and to sell the machinery as well as the land on which these factories are built. But this would be such a grave loss of capital and employment opportunities," he said. “I have recently signed checks worth LE 1.8 million for utility bills. If the Economic Company cannot cover these expenses then I may end up in prison."

Solidarity with RETA Union from the Public Services International Trade Union Federation

Interference in the Affairs of the Real Estate Tax Authority Union

Dear Prime Minister,

Public Services International (PSI) has been informed by our affiliate the Real Estate Tax Authority Union about serious interference with its independence and autonomy by the President of the Egyptian Trade Union Federation.

The Real Estate Tax Authority Union (RETA) was formally constituted on 21 April 2009 in accordance with the Egyptian Constitution and International Labour Organisation Conventions 87 and 98, which have been ratified by the Egyptian government. After protracted negotiations, RETA succeeded in establishing a Social Care Fund, providing retirement benefits for its members. The Minister of Finance’s decision No. 425 dated July 2009 approved the establishment of the Fund.

According to our information, considerable pressure is being exerted by Mr Hussein Megawer, President of the Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF) on officials, including officials in the Real Estate Tax Authority and Ministry of Finance, to withdraw the recognition of RETA as an independent trade union and to dissolve or seize control of the Social Care Fund.
This pressure has taken the following forms:

- Shortly after RETA was formally recognised, Mr Megawer attempted to form a new general trade union for employees of the Real Estate Tax Authority; an attempt which was overwhelmingly rejected by the employees.

- ETUF and the National Trade Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Affairs have written to your government requesting it not to have any dealings with RETA.

- ETUF has filed corruption charges against the RETA leadership, accusing RETA of collecting union dues without authorisation.

- In July 2009, two RETA officials were physically assaulted in Gharibya Governate and Sharkiya Governate.

- RETA officers have been referred for investigation before administrative prosecutors and the legal departments of their workplaces. These officers include Mr Tarek Mustafa, the union treasurer and chairman of the union committee in Kalubiya Governorate; Mr Abdel Nasser Sayed Mansour, chairman of the union committee in Beni Suef Governorate; Mr Hussein Kilany, chairman of the union committee in Assiut Governorate; Mr Ezzat Khaled, chairman of the union committee in Qena Governorate; and Mr Khaled Mubarak, treasurer of the union committee in Aswan Governorate.

- RETA members are often called to the State Security offices where they are intimidated.

- RETA leaders are arbitrarily transferred from their job sites to remote places.

- At the instigation of the ETUF, an amendment to decision No. 425 was signed on 5 August 2009 which replaced RETA with the General Trade Union of Banks and Insurances, an ETUF affiliate, as signatory to the Social Care Fund.

- On 10 August 2009, ETUF filed a report with the Public Prosecutor against the President of RETA, Mr Kamal Abu Eita, and against the decision of the Minister of Finance approving the establishment of RETA’s Social Care Fund. The report falsely alleges that Mr Abu Eita’s election as President was irregular and that RETA is therefore an illegal entity.

PSI urges your government to take swift measures to ensure that RETA can freely exercise its role as an independent trade union organisation; to condemn all acts of intimidation and harassment against the leadership and members of RETA and to condemn all external interference in RETA’s activities. We further call on your government to confirm the establishment of a Social Care Fund for RETA members.

Yours sincerely
Peter Waldorff
General Secretary


AUGUST 18, 2009

Cc: H.E. Dr. Youssef Boutros-Ghali, Minister of Finance; H.E. Mrs. Aesha Abdel Hadi Abdel Ghani, Minister of Manpower and Immigration; PSI Arab countries and PSI Africa; Real Estate Tax Authority Union; Centre for Trade Union & Workers Services; Mr Kacem Afiya; ITUC Geneva and Brussels.

Public Services International (PSI) is a global trade union federation that represents 20 million women and men working in the public services around the world. It has some 600 affiliated unions in more than 150 countries. PSI is an autonomous body, which works in association with federations covering other sectors of the workforce and with the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). PSI is an officially recognised non-governmental organisation for the public sector within the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and has consultative status with ECOSOC and observer status with other UN bodies such as UNCTAD and UNESCO.

Public Services International

Solidarity from Independent Algerian Trade Union

Message of solidarity with Egypt’s independent RETA Union from the Independent Algerian Trade Union for Public Administration Employees

Addressed to Egypt’s Labor Minister & Finance Minister:

Algeria’s Syndicat National Autonome des Personnel de l’Administration Publique expresses its complete solidarity with the real estate tax employees and with their independent union; as it supports all their legitimate demands and rights.

SNAPAP will study means of raising awareness and support for this newly established Egyptian trade union on the regional and international levels.

خطاب تضامن النقابة الوطنية المستقلة لمستخدمى الإدارة العمومية بالجزائر مع موظفى الضرائب العقارية

Dick-tator Mubarak's Labor Day Speech

Your days left on the throne are running out fast old pharaoh.
May Egypt's next Labor Day be Mubarak-Free!


Egypt's president concerned about economy

By MAGGIE MICHAEL
Associated Press

Egypt's president on Wednesday said he was "struggling" with the government to provide anticipated salary bonuses for public sector workers, offering some of the strongest indications yet about how the global recession was affecting the Arab world's most populous nation.
In an annual labor day speech, Hosni Mubarak said the country would be able to weather the global downturn. But he also indicated the annual bonuses would be considerably less than previous years and that his pledge to provide about half a million jobs per year would probably not be met this year.

The somber tone voiced by Mubarak, who has been president since 1981, was a surprisingly candid assessment of the country's difficulties even as other top officials have repeatedly stressed Egypt's ability to weather the current downturn.

Mubarak said he is "struggling" with the government to provide the roughly 6 million public sector employees with the so-called "social allowance" - essentially a salary bonus.

Last year, faced with protests over surging prices, the government provided public sector workers with a 30 percent pay hike. Earlier raises had ranged between 10 to 15percent.

Mubarak stopped short of providing an exact figure, but indicated it would be at least 5 or 6 percent this year.

Egypt had enjoyed an average economic growth rate of about 7 percent for the past three years. But officials, who months ago said they were hoping for growth of 5 to 6 percent, are now projecting a further contraction to 4 percent as the country's key revenues sources - tourism, the Suez Canal, foreign investment and worker remittances take a pounding.

Mubarak described the world economic crisis as "tornado," and added that he follows, "day by day, the decline of our exports of goods and services, the decline of the local and foreign investment, tourism revenues, the Suez canal and remittances of Egyptians living abroad."

He indicated that pledges to provide half a million jobs per year - seen as key for growth in a country with an expanding population - would fall short this year, noting that the declining revenues would "temporarily hurt our economy's capacity to provide the job opportunities."

"Yes, we will be affected by the current crisis. Yes, our growth rate will fall to 4 percent," he said.

In an apparent bid to stave off protests similar to the unrest last year, Mubarak appealed to workers to resort to dialogue instead of walkouts.

Last April, thousands of people in the northern city of Mahalla rioted over high food prices and low wages. Since then, there have been other strikes and clashes - incidents that stoke fears of political unrest in a key U.S. ally where the World Bank estimates about 20 percent live below the poverty line of $2 per day.

Kamal Abbas, head of the (independent) Center for Trade Union & Workers'Services, said that Mubarak's speech was a surprise.

"Everybody was waiting for the president to give them the bonus, but what happened is a big surprise to all of us and it shows the huge difficulties the government is facing," said Abbas. He warned that the coming months could witness more strikes.

"The crisis will tighten and have grave repercussions, in Egypt," he said.

http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=934694&lang=eng_news

AP - Court stops order halting Egyptian gas to Israel

The Associated Press
February 2, 2009

CAIRO: An Egyptian court suspended an earlier ruling that aimed at halting a much criticized deal to export Egyptian natural gas to Israel, pending further review, court officials said Monday.
In November, after opposition groups filed a suit alleging that the 15-year fixed price deal sold the gas too cheaply, an Egyptian court ordered a halt to exports.

The ruling was immediately appealed and at no time did the flow of Egyptian gas to Israel, which began in March, ever halt, said a spokesman for Israel's Infrastructure Ministry, Asaf Asulin.

Egypt's Supreme Administrative court on Monday suspended the November ruling, pending a review of the situation by a panel of independent experts, a court official reading from the court papers said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. A further hearing was scheduled for March 16.

The original court ruling said that the government needed parliament's approval before authorizing contracts related to the country's natural resources, but Cabinet spokesman Magdy Rady, said the government had full sovereignty over any deal with a foreign country.

"Contracts with foreign countries are part of the government's job. The government did it in a way that it deemed right," Rady said. "At this stage, this will help us to continue exporting."
The deal is between a private Egyptian company, partly owned by the government, and the state-run Israel Electric Corporation.

The 2005 deal licensed Cairo-based East Mediterranean Gas to sell 1.7 billion cubic meters of natural gas to the Israeli company at a price critics say is set at $1.50 per million British thermal units — a measure of energy.

Natural gas for March delivery was trading at about $4.31 per one million Btu Monday on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Over the past year, prices have been volatile, soaring at one point in June to $13 per million Btu.

Critics describe the deal was an example of government mismanagement of public funds and resources. The lawsuit also highlights popular resentment at Egyptian ties to Israel, despite more than 30 years of a peace deal.

Dozens of Egyptians demonstrated outside the court Monday, holding up pictures of Lebanese Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, carrying the title "the symbol of Arab resistance." Other posters were directed at government officials: "Stop the bleeding of natural resources."

Former diplomat Ibrahim Yousri, who filed the suit, said the decision is not final but the arguments will only drag on for months.

"I am very sad because that means that Egyptians will lose millions of dollars each day for no reason at all," he said.
____________________
Associated Press Writer Ian Deitch from Jerusalem contributed to this report

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/02/02/news/ML-Egypt-Israel-Gas-Deal.php

Britain: The Spring Offensive

Infoshop News
Monday, January 26 2009

There's no doubt that the six weeks from March 28th - May 4th offers our anarchist movement a chance to move out of the shadows. Against the background of recession there has been rioting across Europe from Riga to Sofia. These are riots not by activists but by poor people hurting badly.

The Greek uprising has provided a fine example of anarchists being prominent in a wider social movement for radical change. In Britain the war on Gaza and the Heathrow runway decision has brought protests - and direct action - back on the street across the country. They are not yet focussed on the recession but they may become so.

The G20 summit in London on April 2nd provides an opportunity for all these strands across Europe to come together as in the PARIS DECLARATION calling for a mass demonstration in London on March 28th - Saturday before summit - and across Europe on April 1st-2nd. In London the Trade Unions, Stop the War are organising marches on April 2nd. THE BEHEADING CAPITALISM event by the folks behind J18 is planned for the same day.

Other anarchists are planning a large central London anarchist rally on the night of April 1st with speakers from across Europe. After G20 the European leaders move on to the NATO summit in Germany - sure to get the anarchists back on the streets.

To often momentum is built over a few events then dribbles away. But this year we have the Mayday marches, a planned UK anarchist conference in London over May2-3rd and a Reclaim the Streets event in Brighton on May 4th. The fates are with us comrades, the sheeps entrails are promising, all we need are a few portents and omens to kick the whole fucking thing off.

JOIN THE SPRING OFFENSIVE!

Source: A-infoshttp://ainfos.ca/en

http://news.infoshop.org/article.php?story=20090126115047477

Greek Police Fight Protesters a 4th Day as General Strike Looms

By Maria Petrakis

Dec. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Greek police used tear gas to disperse stone-throwing protesters outside the country’s parliament on the fourth day of unrest after the killing of a youth by security forces. Demonstrations may resume tomorrow when unions hold a general strike.

Police surrounded the parliament building in the center of Athens, pushing back against thousands of teachers and students who were trying to break a cordon, Antenna TV showed. Helmet-clad officers responded with tear gas when protesters threw stones.

As calm returned to the city center, Skai TV showed scenes of police chasing protesters throwing rocks in the streets of Nea Smyrni, a residential southern suburb of the capital, after the funeral of the 15-year-old boy shot dead by police on Dec. 6. Disturbances were also reported in Thessaloniki, the second- biggest city, the port of Patras and the island of Samos.

The country’s biggest labor groups, GSEE, which represents about 2 million workers, and civil-service union ADEDY, with 500,000 members, rebuffed a call by Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis to cancel planned rallies in Athens tomorrow to prevent more clashes. Pledges by Karamanlis’s government, which is fighting declining voter popularity, to show no leniency to those responsible for the boy’s death have failed to stem the violence.

Police in Athens fired tear gas and dragged away protesters late yesterday as demonstrators rampaged through the capital, torching stores, banks and hotel lobbies in the worst violence in decades. The fighting erupted in the wake of marches organized by the opposition Syriza movement and the Communist Party of Greece.

Buildings Attacked

Students set fire yesterday to a Christmas tree in Syntagma Square in front of parliament and looted duty-free stores in neighboring streets. The lobby of the Athens Plaza Hotel, located on the square, was torched as were branches of Bank Millennium SA and Olympic Airways SA. Rioters burned down a post office located hundreds of meters from Athens’ ancient Parthenon temple. The letters “R.I.P.” were spray-painted on the wall of the Grande Bretagne Hotel.

“No one has the right to use this tragic event as an alibi for acts of raw violence,” Karamanlis, 52, told reporters in Athens today after meeting with President Karolos Papoulias. He reiterated that there would be “no clemency” for the perpetrators. “In these critical times, the political world is obliged unanimously and unequivocally to condemn these expressions of catastrophe and to isolate them.”

Papoulias called for calm as the youth, Alexis Grigoropoulos, was laid to rest. Grigoropoulos was killed after a group of about 30 teenagers hurling projectiles attacked a patrol car in the Exarhia district of Athens, according to the Interior Ministry.

‘Tragedy’

Two policemen parked the car and went to arrest the group on foot, the police said. When they were attacked again, one officer fired three shots, hitting the boy.

“The state will do what it can to prevent a repeat of this tragedy,” Karamanlis said. “Those responsible will receive the punishment they deserve.”

The officer who fired the shots was charged with murder and illegal use of a weapon while his colleague will be charged with being an accomplice to the killing, state-controlled Athens News Agency reported.

About 1,000 youths rampaged through central Athens, burning and attacking banks, stores and cars, shortly after the shooting. The riots spread to other cities, including Thessaloniki and the island of Crete.

Teenager’s Funeral

Rioting continued into the early hours today and police said 87 people were arrested in Athens for attacking officers, vandalism and looting. A total of 176 people were detained while 12 police were injured, police said. Mega TV reported that the figure arrested for all of Greece reached 157.

The fire service responded to more than 200 blazes in central Athens yesterday, about half of them in buildings and the remainder in cars and garbage bins used as barricades, the Associated Press said.

High schools were shut today as are many public services, to mark the teenager’s funeral.
Prokopis Pavlopoulos, the interior and public order minister, tendered his resignation after the shooting, though it wasn’t accepted.

Pitched battles between police and students and anarchist groups are frequent in Greece, particularly in the capital. New Democracy party policies including changes to the state-run education system have fueled tensions.

Education Disputes

Demands from students and teachers range from more public spending on education and higher wages for teachers to opposition to government plans to recognize privately run colleges. University professors have already called a three-day strike.

The Dec. 6 shooting occurred in a neighborhood where police regularly clash with students.
The area is adjacent to the National Technical University of Athens, or Polytechnic, the site of the 1973 student uprising against the military junta that ruled Greece at the time.

The popularity of New Democracy, which has 151 of parliament’s 300 seats, has slid since the government announced new tax measures in September, while the global financial crisis prevents it from providing relief to lower-income groups. Opinion polls since September show the opposition Panhellenic Socialist Movement, led by George Papandreou, leading New Democracy for the first time in eight years. Papandreou, 56, is the son of Andreas Papandreou, a former prime minister.

‘Multiple Crises’

“The country doesn’t have a government which can protect the citizen, their rights, their security,” Papandreou said today, after meeting with Karamanlis. “Our society, our citizens are living through multiple crises: economic, social, institutional, of values. The government has lost the confidence of the Greek people.” He called for early elections.

Tomorrow’s strike, called to protest the government’s economic policies, will shut down schools and government offices and disrupt public transport. Air traffic controllers will walk off the job, forcing the cancellation of flights by carriers Aegean Airways SA and Olympic Airways SA. GSEE and ADEDY have called a rally at 10:00 a.m. in Athens.

Karamanlis introduced new taxes on dividends, stock options, self-employed workers and small businesses to boost revenue as slowing growth and higher inflation and interest rates hamper the government’s ability to meet budget targets.

Greek economic growth will slow to 2.7 percent next year, below a previous forecast of 3 percent, according to the government’s final budget plan for 2009, which was submitted to parliament last month. The economy is being buffeted by the global credit crisis and a recession in Germany, the euro zone’s largest economy.

To contact the reporter on this story: Maria Petrakis in Athens at mpetrakis@bloomberg.net.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=a7XHZrukmLAQ&refer=europe

AFP: Brussels at virtual standstill as Belgium gripped by strike

BRUSSELS (AFP) — Brussels ground to a virtual standstill Monday with international train services halted and government offices closed as thousands of workers across Belgium protested against rising living costs.

The public sector in the seat of the main European Union institutions was the worst affected with some schools also closed alongside factories, a pattern repeated in other major Belgian cities and towns.

Belgian trade unions said employees in public services and industry were equally responsive in downing pens and tools.

"The day of action is a success," the major Christian union CSC proclaimed.

There were sporadic reports of ugly incidents at some picket lines as non-striking workers attempted to get to work while industry leaders voiced annoyance that profits would be lost at a time of financial crisis.

The trade union day of action saw nearly all public transport in Brussels grounded from late Sunday, with most tramlines paralysed and very few underground metro trains running.
In the midst of a financial storm sweeping through Europe, Eurostar trains to London and Paris as well as high-speed Thalys services to France, Germany and the Netherlands were not running.

Road traffic in the capital was also lighter than normal with many non-strikers opting to take the day off.

Rail services were also stopped in the southern region of Wallonia and were infrequent in Flanders to the north.

Only the banks made a point of opening, seeking to reassure anxious customers as the global financial crisis hits home.

In Belgium's second city of Antwerp, museums and libraries were closed while in Bruges all public offices remained closed.

Charleroi and Liege in the southern region of Wallonia were also affected.

The strike action took place the day after French bank BNP Paribas took a controlling interest in Belgium's largest banking group Fortis, which has been subject to three different bailout packages in a week.

Members of the liberal CGSLB union took to the streets outside the Brussels stock exchange distributing leaflets saying "Purchasing power, what's left? Peanuts."

"The message is clear," said the union's secretary general Philippe Vandenabeele.
"We are calling for better purchasing power for workers. There aren't the reserves left and it's time to think now of Mrs. Everywoman rather than thinking of the banks."

Thierry Bodson, general secretary of the Wallonia wing of the FGTB, one of the country's biggest trade unions, told local radio that one of the strikers' key demands was a reduction in energy costs via lower consumption tax on oil, gas and heating fuel.

While the level of protest differed from region to region, meaning the action fell short of a general strike, Bodson recalled that in June some 100,000 people had taken to the streets to protest against the steep rise in living costs.

In September, consumer price inflation in Belgium hit 5.46 percent.

The US Financial Crisis is a Crisis of Capitalism

Wall Street Bailout - A Swindle Against Working People

Sep 24, 2008
By Socialist Alternative


"If Wall Street gets away with this, it will represent an historic swindle of the American public - all sugar for the villains, lasting pain and damage for the victims." This is how William Greider described the Wall Street bailout.

The whole capitalist system is in chaos as the financial implosion now threatens to become a depression. For working people, this comes on top of years of stagnant wages, the loss of millions of good jobs, a wave of foreclosures and price gouging for fuel and food.

The crisis was caused by the capitalists themselves. Their greed for profit has destabilized the entire system. All the arguments about the market "solving problems" are now exposed as Wall Street begs for more taxpayer bailouts.

The hypocrisy of the Washington political establishment is breathtaking. With elections looming, yesterday’s cheerleaders of financial deregulation and tax cuts have suddenly transformed into the defenders of “Main Street” against the criminals elites of Wall Street.

Every time working people, unions or community groups demand better wages, benefits or social services, these corporate politicians have told us: “We can’t afford it.” Now the government is authorizing up to a trillion (maybe much more) to buy up the bad debts of Wall Street “banksters.”

This money should instead be used to guarantee healthcare, housing, childcare, education, and living wage for everyone.

They claim bailing out the financial elite is necessary to prevent economic disaster for working people. However, even Congressional Democrats are demanding nothing more than token reforms on Wall Street in return for the largest corporate welfare handout in U.S. history. Wall Street and the big banks have been exposed as a den of speculation and corruption. They are the most powerful lobby in Washington, and have financed the careers of countless politicians, Obama and McCain among them.

In reality, this bailout plan has nothing to do with ensuring the economic security of working people, and everything to do with propping up their system of exploitation and profiteering at our expense. Even the cheerleaders for the bailout acknowledge that it won’t prevent millions of families losing their homes to foreclosures. They admit it won’t stop rising unemployment and inflation.

That is why big business and the politicians they fund refuse to spend taxpayer money where it would really benefit the economy; on canceling the debts of homeowners, students, and working people generally; on job creating public works programs to build schools, hospitals, clean energy infrastructure, and other social needs. We need to fight back. Working people have the power to stop this massive swindle.

Make Corporate Criminals Pay for their Corruption
If ordinary folks get caught breaking the law, they go to jail. CEOs and big shareholders in the collapsed banks should not be given multi-million dollar “golden parachutes.” They should be investigated and forced to repay ill-gotten profits. A commission made of trade unionists, community groups and the public should investigate their criminal activity. Drug lords have their wealth confiscated for their crimes, the same should happen to the Wall Street gamblers and speculators.

Stop Foreclosures!
For a National Housing Plan The government should declare an emergency moratorium on home foreclosures, and renegotiate the debts of homeowners victimized by loan sharks. For a nationally coordinated plan to ensure affordable housing for all, including rent control, housing subsidies, and a massive expansion of quality affordable housing. Relieving the huge debt burden on working class households would help revive consumer spending in the real economy of essential goods and services.

Jobs Programs, Not Layoffs - Tax the Rich and Big Business
The money is there to improve our lives and stop the economic downfall. Working people pay too much to the government, and corporations get bailouts while they evade taxes. A massive program of public works can improve jobs and living conditions while stimulating the economy.

Stop Inflation: Raise Wages and Cap Prices
These massive bailouts for the banks, on top of hundreds of billions for the war and tax cuts for the rich, are being paid for by huge deficit spending, which erodes the value of wages. This, combined with price gauging and speculation on commodities like food and energy is causing inflation. We demand a living wage for all workers and indexing wages to rise with inflation, so that working people are not forced to pay for this crisis. Gas prices should be subject to price controls and capped at $3 per gallon.

For a Real Democratic Plan for Housing, Banking, Healthcare and Energy
Freddie, Fannie, Bear Stearns, and AIG have been either nationalized or given huge injections of public funds. But instead of capitalist nationalization which acts to save the rich, we call for socialist nationalization, with compensation based on need, and under working people's democratic control, so that the wealth of these institutions is used in the interests of the vast majority and not to line the pockets of the ruling class.

Only Struggle Can Bring Real Change
We can win our demands, but we have to organize. We can't depend on corporate politicians, Democrats or Republicans. McCain has been a supporter of unregulated markets for decades. Obama's failure to put forward a concrete program shows that he too is tied to Wall Street and to the capitalist system rather than trying to deal with the problems of ordinary people. Many commentators have correctly called the Wall Street bailouts "socialism for the rich." But this has nothing to do with genuine democratic socialism which is the real alternative to the crisis-ridden capitalist system. Democratic socialism is a system that would put the interests of the majority of working people before the interests and obscene profits of the financial oligarchy.

Mass demonstrations should be organized across the country to oppose the bi-partisan Wall Street swindle and fight the corporate agenda. The union movement has a tremendous opportunity to organize working class resistance to the corporate attacks on our pensions, healthcare and living standards. Conferences should be urgently organized in every major city around the country bringing together the labor movement, antiwar and community activists, to build a mass movement to defend the interests of working people.

http://www.socialistalternative.org/news/article12.php?id=933