The meeting scheduled today between the Labor Ministry officials, Mansoura-España trade unionists and the representatives of the United Bank was canceled, after the latter claimed they were “busy” and “had not time to show up” to discuss the workers’ problems.
Labor Updates
I’m receiving news that a number of workers from the light bulbs factory in the 10th of Ramadan City, are now staging a protest in downtown Cairo, in front of the Social Insurance building. No more info is available at the moment. But it’s worth mentioning that this company is one of the two companies we have in the country that are run by the workers themselves after their owner, billionaire Rami Lakkah, fled the country around seven years ago following his failure to pay his bank debts.
UPDATE: I spoke with a journalist who is in downtown now. There’s roughly 400 workers from the factory, half of them are in Al-Alfi Street, near the Social Insurance building and the other half are in front of the Ministry of Social Solidarity. The workers, who’ve been running the company since 2001 are being punished by the government which took their names off the social insurance schemes, though the company is making profits due to the workers’ self-management. This means the drivers cannot renew their licenses, and the rest of the workers do not have retirement schemes or access to insurance.
UPDATE: Photos and report available on Tadamon.
