Interview with Ahmad Badawy, Egyptian trade union activist

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The textile workers at Egypt's state-owned Mahalla factory have a history they can be proud of -- their strikes helped to bring down the Mubarak dictatorship. In March 2024, when the Egyptian government decided to exclude them from a minimum wage equal to US $120 (per month - before taxes), they rose up in protest, led by women workers. Having won some of their demands, they returned to work -- but two of the activists remain in the hands of the state security services. At the request of the Center for Trade Unions and Workers Services (CTUWS) LabourStart launched a campaign in support of these workers -- you can sign up here. This week we talked with Ahmad Badawy, an Egyptian trade union activist, who explained what happened -- and who tells us the kind of support the courageous women workers of Mahalla need today from the international labour movement.