Labor union officials at Schindler company threatened to stage an open ended sit in tomorrow at the General Federation for Trade Unions’ HQ in Galaa St., if the Labor Minister did not intervene tonight to stop the factory’s land sale, and force the company management back to the negotiations table.
I called the head of the Factory Union Committee at the company, Muhammad Abdel Salam and he told me the following:
-There are 700 workers at the company, in Cairo and Alexandria. They belong to the General Union for Engineering Industries.
-The government owns 76.6% of the company shares. The rest are owned by Schindler (which gave the company its commercial trademark), and a group of Saudi and Kuwaiti investors.
-The management took a decision back in October 2006, to “sell the company’s land and facilities,” according to Muhammad Abdel Salam. “The sale is scheduled on Saturday. No one told us what exactly was happening. Does that mean they are liquidating the company and its labor force? We want the workers’ rights protected.”
-Two union delegations from Cairo and Alexandria met with the company’s CEO today, who refused to clarify the situation and signing on any promises on paper.
-If Labor Minister Aisha Abdel Hadi does not intervene to either bring about a settlement, stop the land sale, or force the management back to the negotiations table, Muhammad Abdel Salam told me they were starting an open-ended sit-in tomorrow at the General Federation’s HQ in Cairo.