Press release
Geneva – August 18, 2024
The Committee for Justice (CFJ) has monitored that workers at the Al-Nasr Spinning and Weaving and Knitting Company “Shourbagy”, which is under the Egyptian Ministry of Public Business Sector’s Cotton, Spinning, Weaving, and Clothing Holding Company, organized a protest after their demands were previously ignored by the company’s management.
– Failed Merger and Increased Incentives:
On Thursday, August 15th, workers from the engineering and textile sectors of the company gathered for nearly an hour to present their demands, amidst threats from the unit supervisor to call the national security forces on them and attempts to prevent other workers from joining the protest.
During the protest, workers raised several demands, including the reinstatement of the company’s syndicate committee to facilitate members’ access to their dues, the lifting of the freeze on the syndicate’s bank account imposed by the General Syndicate, and equality with the workers of the Helwan Complex in the annual bonus. Workers at the Helwan Complex receive six and a half months’ worth of bonus, while Shourbagy workers receive only five months.
The workers also demanded an increase in incentives and wages to be on par with the Helwan Complex workers and the implementation of financial integration according to the merger decision that incorporated “Shourbagy” into the Helwan Complex, which includes companies like the Egyptian Spinning, Wool, and Tex Equipment, Helwan Silk, Al-Nasr Spinning and Weaving, and Misr Helwan for Spinning and Weaving.
– Promise of Negotiation and Solidarity with Workers’ Demands:
The company management has promised to hold a meeting with representatives from the General Syndicate in the presence of workers next Tuesday to discuss their demands and work on addressing them as soon as possible.
CFJ expresses its solidarity with the company workers in their demands and their right to express themselves and rejects the company’s threats to call national security to forcibly disperse the protest. CFJ urges the management to build on the agreements reached through negotiations with the workers in an attempt to find solutions that satisfy the workers, meet their legitimate demands, and ensure the continued regular operation of the company’s factories.
