Egyptian Worker Leads Strikes in Italy: “The January (Egyptian) Revolution Shaped My Trade Union Consciousness”

Interview by Ahmed Elfarrash

Ali (a pseudonym) is an Egyptian worker and a trade union leader in Italy for over ten years. He has been one of the prominent faces of the recent labor strikes in the country, which reflected an unprecedented level of international working-class solidarity especially with the Palestinian people. In this interview, Ali talks about his experience in trade-union work, the role of grassroots unions in organizing migrant workers, the impact of the January Revolution on his political consciousness, and his view of the of the working class conditions in Egypt.

From January to the Warehouses: The Formation of Trade-Union Awareness

Ali says he lived his life moving between Egypt and Italy because of his father’s work, but he was in Egypt when the January Revolution erupted. “The experience of the revolution had a profound impact on my political consciousness,” he adds. After some time, he traveled to Italy and began working in the warehousing and logistics sector, where large numbers of Egyptians and migrants are employed.

He continues: “We were facing harsh working conditions, poor treatment by employers, and unfair deductions from wages.” In this context, he became acquainted with one of the grassroots unions, that is an independent organizations similar to the independent unions that emerged in Egypt after the revolution, that focus on organizing logistics and warehouse workers.

He stresses that this organization played a decisive role in improving working conditions and winning formal contracts and wage increases. Thanks to his fluency in both Arabic and Italian, he became a key link between the union and migrant workers, especially those who speak only Arabic.

Working-Class Solidarity with Palestine

Regarding the broad labor movement that Italy has witnessed recently in solidarity with the Palestinian people, Ali emphasizes that this scene “did not come out of nowhere.” He explains that grassroots unions have, over the past years, carried out strikes and demonstrations against the war in Ukraine, which built up a legacy of organizing experience.
He points out that his union was among the first organizations to announce a strike in November 2023, just days after the start of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, despite the prevailing fear at the time within official unions of accusations of “antisemitism.”
As weekly demonstrations expanded, international solidarity with the Palestinian struggle grew, and left-wing parties and unions became involved, the Palestinian struggle was integrated into the core of labor struggles, alongside confronting the policies of the far-right Italian government lead by Giorgia Meloni.

Government Repression and Threats to Migrants

Ali describes the Italian government’s response as “repressive par excellence,” pointing to the use of police violence and threats against protesters, especially migrants, such as revoking residency permits or deportation. However, he affirms that these practices pushed many to believe that the solution lies in more organizing and political participation, not retaliation.

He notes that his union is an exceptional case in its focus on migrant workers, which encouraged large numbers of Egyptian workers to engage in trade-union activity after the January Revolution. Nevertheless, the risks remain, as demonstrated by the arrest Mohamed Shaheen, an Egyptian imam at Turin’s mosque, who is facing deportation threats due to his participation in Palestinian solidarity actions.

“The Working Class Is the Spearhead”

In continuation of the situation in Egypt, Ali says he monitors the labor and student movement “limited but slowly growing”, through independent journalistic platforms and revolutionary pages such as the Revolutionary Socialists’ page. He stresses that struggle under a military dictatorship differs fundamentally from the European context, and highlights that the January Revolution was preceded by major labor struggles, most notably in Mahalla’s textile factories.

He concludes by affirming his conviction that the Egyptian working class must be at the heart of any liberation movement, describing it as “the spearhead of struggle.” He notes that through his trade-union activity in Italy, he raises international awareness of Egyptian workers’ issues strengthening solidarity with them.