The Committee for Justice (CFJ) has documented the worsening financial crisis affecting workers at “Ceramica Innova” (formerly Pharaon) in the Kom Oshim industrial zone in Fayoum, caused by delays in disbursing contributions from the Ministry of Labor’s Workers’ Emergency Aid Fund, as well as the management’s failure to pay April salaries to certain worker categories.
Several workers reported that the fund’s contribution, which ranges between 1,500 and 2,000 Egyptian pounds per worker depending on their salary level, was not paid through the post office as is customary at the end of each month. They pointed out that this is the first delay of its kind since the workers began benefiting from the fund’s financial support.
At the end of January, the Emergency Aid Fund committed to covering four million Egyptian pounds monthly from the total wages bill of twelve million pounds, with the company responsible for the remaining eight million. This decision followed a meeting between company owner Mohamed Fouzy and Fayoum Governor Dr. Ahmed Al-Ansary, during which Fouzy cited the company’s financial difficulties and accumulated debts owed to gas, electricity, and water providers.
One worker explained that the company usually divides wage payments into staggered installments throughout the month, distributed according to salary brackets. However, even these installments were delayed and only covered workers whose salaries do not exceed 5,300 Egyptian pounds, while the rest have yet to receive their dues.
For its part, the CFJ affirms full solidarity with Ceramica Innova workers in their legitimate financial demands. It calls on the company’s management to halt repeated acts of abuse against workers and to promptly disburse all overdue payments, including April salaries and the Emergency Aid Fund contribution.
The CFJ also urges the Egyptian Ministry of Labor to intervene immediately to protect workers’ rights, ensure timely payment of wages, investigate the real causes behind the delays, and prevent such incidents from recurring in the future.