The Committee for Justice (CFJ) has documented how workers at “Samannoud Spinning Company” ended a work strike lasting several hours on Saturday morning, May 17, 2025, following threats from a National Security officer to arrest them, in an unprecedented escalation aimed at suppressing labor protests within the factory.
Sources stated that the workers went on strike early Saturday to protest the management’s inconsistent policies, particularly regarding the implementation of minimum wage standards and the neglect of basic occupational health and safety conditions.
The sources indicated that the company’s administration, headed by Saad Abd El-Rabeh, follows a clear discriminatory policy among employees, applying the minimum wage to certain categories while excluding others, despite equal experience and some having worked over 20 years, receiving monthly salaries not exceeding 3,500 Egyptian pounds.
Workers also condemned arbitrary dismissals and suspensions imposed on several of them during recent months, which they considered part of a systematic campaign to subdue the workforce and suppress any critical voices or calls for legitimate rights.
The strike was also held in protest against the lack of potable water inside the factory for several days, amid the management’s continued spending on lavish banquets funded by the company, while deliberately failing to provide the most basic elements of decent living conditions for employees.
The CFJ reaffirms outright rejection of any security threats made against workers, considers it a flagrant violation of their constitutional right to peaceful strikes and expressing their demands, and emphasizes its full support for the workers’ legitimate demands to improve working conditions and achieve social justice.
The CFJ calls upon Egypt’s Ministry of Labor to immediately intervene to protect workers’ rights and ensure that they are not subjected to retaliation or arrest for exercising their constitutional rights, whether through striking or demanding fair wages and humane working conditions that preserve their human dignity.
