CAIRO - Workers were filled with enthusiasm for the presence of independent professional unions in a recent gathering in Cairo. The workers, who poured into the Press Syndicate in central Cairo with an air of personal achievement, considering themselves to be a main force behind the January 25 revolution, to pay tribute to their fellow workers who died during the revolution in clashes with Mubarak's police, said the presence of these independent unions would enrich Egypt's professional life. "The current Workers' Union has allowed privatisation of companies, worker layoff, and the enslavement of workers to happen," said Mohamed Abdel Salam, a Workers' Union member. "The union always took sides with the government, encouraging the workers to start their own independent union,” he told the Egyptian Mail in an interview. A short time before the revolution that swept Mubarak away from power happened, the nation's workers founded four independent unions, namely the Independent Real Estate Taxes Union, the Independent Pensioners' Union, the Independent Teachers' Union, and the Independent Health Technicians' Union. Some experts, however, expect the fledgling unions to come short of satisfying the demands of the nation's workers who have suffered what they call “systematic humiliation” at the hands of the former regime for decades. They say these unions will serve as a dissatisfying force in Egypt's professional community, pitting all types of workers against each other at a time this country is in bad need for unity. But Abdel Salam disagrees. He says the presence of a large number of professional unions in this country will but enrich the workers' life and make them stronger. "Founding these unions doesn't mean that the workers will not gather under one umbrella,” he said. “On the contrary, pluralism is a badly needed thing now,” he added. Even with this, the revolution for the nation's workers is still an unfinished business yet. They say social justice, one of the top demands of the revolutionaries, is nowhere to be found three months after the dictator stepped down and went to jail. This is one reason why Abdel Salam's colleagues had vowed in this meeting to continue to fight until this social justice found its way to everybody in Egypt. They said their salaries are still very low although the government had promised to raise these salaries several times before. “The Government has been promising to set a minimum and a maximum salary for all workers so that everybody can lead a dignified life, but this has not happened yet,” said Elhamy el-Merghany, an economic expert who attended the workers' meeting. “There are huge salary discrepancies in this country,” he added. Salaries are not about the only fight the workers are determined to wage in the days to come. They also want to put pressure on the government to bring privatised companies and factories back to its control. They say privatisation had but beggared the workers, and destroyed Egypt's industry. In this meeting, the workers chanted slogans, such as "Wake up, workers, wake up, privatisation must end”. Some workers clapped their hands in support, while others enthusiastically repeated the slogan. "The workers' living conditions will be better in the future as long as they are united,” said Abdel Salam, raising his hands in support of the other workers who addressed their colleagues on the stage.
