Press release
The monitoring teams of the Committee for Justice (CFJ) have identified new violations against “Samanoud Textiles” workers due to their strike to demand the implementation of the minimum wage.
– Suspension and Withholding of Salaries:
Initially, the company management suspended ten of the striking workers and referred them for investigation. The workers are: Hisham Ibrahim Al-Saeed Al-Banna, Mohamed Saber Mahmoud Al-Helou, Mohamed Sadiq Al-Bastawisi Al-Khamari, Tamer Ragab Aqeel, Hamdy Zain Al-Abidin Ibrahim Shabon, Hanem Al-Sayed Mohamed Al-Gohary, Samah Mohamed Al-Sayed Al-Masadi, Hind Farouk Mohamed Abdel-Aal, Nour Mohamed Hassan Abu Al-Naga, and Souad Abdel Hamid Abdel Moneim Al-Aryan. The wages for all workers for August have been withheld, while their colleagues in the security department received their salaries for the same month.
It is noteworthy that nine of the ten suspended workers were previously detained and forcibly disappeared for several days. They were released except for the union activist, Hisham Al-Banna.
– Violations and Calls to Stop Arbitrary Measures:
The detained workers faced several blatant violations during their arrest. These included the security forces blindfolding and handcuffing “Al-Banna” in front of his family and dragging female workers in their sleepwear. Additionally, the son of one of the workers, who is under 18, was slapped by a security officer for clinging to his mother.
CFJ rejects the unlawful and forceful handling of the strike by “Samanoud Textiles” management and calls on the company to respect the Egyptian constitution, which grants workers the right to strike. CFJ urges the management to halt arbitrary actions against the workers, withdraw the suspension orders, and resume paying their salaries.
