Newswise — “Like the rest of Egyptian society, workers have long been subject to authoritarian rule, as citizens and in the workplace, with an official labor federation controlled by the government.
“As in Eastern Europe in 1990, this federation in now under attack by workers, who in recent days staged demonstrations demanding the resignation of its chief, Hussein Megawer, the ‘Mubarak’ of labor suppression. Thousands of labor protests over the past few years opened space for the current uprising.
“Workers have played a central role – from workplaces across Egypt to Tahrir Square – in this revolution, and the campaign to build an independent labor movement will no doubt be an important component in the coming transition from military rule to democracy.”
--Lowell Turner, an international labor expert and professor at the Cornell University ILR School
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