It is time for the issue of race to become central to any discussion on the continued exploitation of workers in the Gulf.
محاولة عاملات المحلة الإضراب في مطلع فبرايريمكن اعتبارها أحد إرهاصات وبوادر صعود جديد للحركة العمالية في مصر.
Even though the number of strikes and industrial actions in Egypt has skyrocketed since the mid 2000s, labour's demands have mostly been local and fragmented.
The plight of migrant domestic workers in Lebanon is not just a legal issue that can be solved by reforming the exploitative kafala or sponsorship law. It reflects deeper race and gender prejucides and must be addressed as a social and moral problem.
As has happened time and time again, trade unions are being repressed and sidelined, the future of workers' rights is put into question. How can the unions, and the people they represent, respond?
Reform will come, because it is increasingly clear that the system has become untenable.
