Land Center for Human Rights Press Release
Cairo 21 /4/2011
Farmers and the right to organize …
Independent trade unions and farmers hope for change
The Land Center for Human Rights held a workshop entitled “Trade Unions and the current situation in Egypt,” on 14/4/2011 at the Centre in Cairo and was attended by representatives from several villages in the governorates of Fayoum and Beni Suef. From El Fayoum: El basel, El Tahawy, Sayedna Mousa, From Beni Suef: Sannour, Al Rashwan Beba province, in addition to representatives of the organic fertilizer factory workers and the number of attendees reached 52 participants
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The workshop was about the problems afflicting the Egyptian countryside and farmers in general and how to deal with to solve those problems through the organization and work with unity of purpose through the organization of trade union that protects the rights of the farmer and maintains control its destiny and protect their earnings and speak in his name and come out the demands of the peasant demands the individual to public demands for the advancement of Agriculture and rural areas and the protection of the rights and interests of farmers, which represent a broad spectrum of people, but unfortunately is violated the rights of peasants because of the absence of regulation and the continuing deterioration due to the bad sides of the market economy
.
The workshop contained four sessions in the gradual integration to clarify the role of trade unions in the process of change and the right to organize and the current situation in Egypt during the first meeting which was chaired by Mr. Aballah El Maamoon, researcher with The Centre, speaking by Mr. Saber Barakat, a labor union organizerand one of the founders of the Coordinating Committee and who presented a paper on workers right to organize has talked about the importance of organization and types in general and labor regulations, which has been termed the union in particular, stressing that it is the organization best suited to the farmer because the union is the organizational form only, which includes the owners of the same profession, or the circumstances one is gathering common economic interests, which applies the farmers shared their circumstances and their suffering similar.
He also pointed out the objectives that underlie the union and that the members selected according to common needs, as well as the powers possessed by the union and gained through the transmission of the personal rights of union members it would gain legal personality of their owners and have the authority to represent its members in all parties and at all levels and to demand their rights and protect their gains and interests a basic goal of the union
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He also pointed to the need to differentiate between workers and employers as they work the same occupation, but conflicting interests, we cannot gather them in one union
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The second meeting represents a shift to the more specific the trade unions and their role in solving the problems of Egyptian farmer and the rights of peasants, which must be adopted by the union and was chaired by Ms. Dalia Emara coordinated the workshop and is spoken of by Mr. Mohammad Hejazi, president of Al Zohour of rural friendship in Qalyoubia, who spoke about the importance of trade unions and trade union organization especially for farmers who suffer to get the basics of life and deprived of their basic rights compared to other farmers the whole world like America and Poland, for example
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He also spoke about the suffering of the Egyptian farmer at all levels, beginning from the absence of agricultural inputs and high prices and lack of quality and access to the absence of the role of the Bank for Development and Agricultural Credit in helping the farmer and the consolidation and missed the right of farmers in soft loans and adopted the role of the Agricultural Bank to trade anemia and the rights of peasants and the lack of resourcefulness and imposing on them compound interest and imprisoned those who cannot face them without the right.
Turning to talk about the role of trade union organization in protecting the farmer and the search for his rights and the protection of earnings.
It was then open the door for the audience where interventions by representatives of each village presented special problems of their village and his people of the village in order to confront and solve those problems, joint problems were significantly and can be summarized as follows
:
* The problem of theü territory of the state and the suffering endured by the people of the state’s refusal to providing them with land and manipulation of local community and identify more than one number as a price for the meters and to devise several scenarios hellish to disperse the people even avoid union-versus-them so that in the village of puss in Beni Suef, the state division of land into several segments and made for each slide price and treated differently from the other, and still people are forced to pay rent for their homes which they inhabit, which was built by their ancestors since the long years.
* The problem of lack of agricultural inputs of seed and fertilizer and non-availability and high prices and lack of quality and the absence of the role of the Agricultural Society
problem of lack of irrigation water and lack of validity.
* The problem of preventing the cultivation of rice in the Fayoum and replaced by beet sugar as a courtesy for the sugar factory – in the words of the people – making the price of one kilo of rice up to four pounds, bringing the farmer is unable to provide the power core of the cultivation of their land because it is forced to cultivate depending on what suits the government, obsolete and its allies and not depending on the needs and the needs of his family
marketing problem is not just for the cropsü
* The problem of shortage of agricultural production inputs and high interest rates loans Bank for Development and Agricultural Credit
The announced attendance solidarity with the people of the village and stressed the need for regulation to address these criminals, corrupt remnants of the former regime
Villagers also expressed their desire to Moses in the establishment of the union as soon as a belief in the important and active role in solving their problems because of their legal validity and as it represents the village full in the face of corruption and not a set or less abounded
The workers of organic fertilizer union in Sannour village confirmed that they are a group of workers working in the profession must be respected canvassers convert a mountain of garbage into organic fertilizer is to take advantage of it however is not proofed yet despite the passage of more than ten years ago for their factory but they are working in the harshest and worst conditions can anyone imagine that in the absence of full safety of the methods or allowances should be disbursed to them and the salaries of a small and temporary contracts and the administration is still penalize the company to announce the formation of the union and declared their solidarity with the present trade union organic manure
After that was the third meeting, which was a number of workshops, mini-training of my work on how to complete Securities Association (Securities Regulations, the Regulations on the statute) that came within one of the workshop were divided villages, attendance at three groups according to their progress in the procedures to establish the union was appointment of a coordinator for each group to be trained
The discussions within the groups resulted in a crystallization of work plans for each union and identified the role of the Board of Directors and the General Assembly and the parties supporting the right to organize, such as The Land Centre.
Then came the final session and each group has presented the problem of the villages the group and how to solve it through the union in the form of an action plan during the coming period
In the end, the audience agreed on the need to complete the procedures of establishing the union as it represents the hope of improving the conditions of the Egyptian peasant and protection of his interests after having lived an eternity of oppression and tyranny and drain its resources and the right to live in a corrupt system of government obsolete
The participants also stressed the need to strive to achieve their legitimate right to a dignified life and agriculture SAFE Egypt has become the home to ensure his sons of liberty, equality and justice in the distribution of power and wealth
Glory to the Martyrs
Long live the struggle of the Egyptian people