In Egypt during the 1930s and 1940s an influential workers’ movement asserted itself through a dynamic syndicalism that also sought official recognition. In doing so, it became an actor in an Egyptian political scene characterised by colonial domination and an authoritarian monarchy. Shubra al-Khayma, a suburb in the north of Cairo, rapidly became an important industrial and labour centre in the textile sector. The General Union of Mechanical Textile Workers of Shubra al-Khayma (GUMTWSK) was the spearhead of this wave. Led by a militant team, it first established itself in the area then expanded its contacts into other industrial zones. Animated principally by nationalist and anticolonialist sentiments, this militant syndicalist current developed an autonomous voice that refused all political patronage. Its leadership was composed of elements from diverse social origins and political sentiments, including nationalists, Muslim Brothers and socialists.

In this context, the union sought to establish its own press organ. In spite of serious difficulties, it managed to lease a weekly, Shubra, and transformed it into a ‘political workers’ weekly’, as proclaimed on its masthead. In the period from April 1942 until January 1943 the newspaper established a solid readership, particularly among workers and especially from the textile sector, before the authorities put an end to this unique experiment of a workers’ forum run by trade unionists.

The history of workers’ and syndicalist newspapers in Egypt is still rather unrecognised but nevertheless, represents a very rich source of social history. This chapter will show how a trade union team was involved in the field of information with the creation of a specific body seeking to mobilise and influence the public. This use of the media weapon reflected a specific desire to build an independent tool. The launching and running of such a newspaper contributed to the development of a militant subaltern network in the social and political field in Egypt during the 1940s. The spirit of the weekly favoured the expression and participated in the crystallisation of a specific workers’ political consciousness in a decisive way. The network which carried out this project went through a process of political radicalisation. Progressively, its purely economic perspective expanded to become a form of political consciousness where patriotism and social reform occupied a decisive place.