Tag: daqahliya

Mansoura-España update

Posted on By 3arabawy

Life resumed at the Mansoura-España Garments Company Wednesday, after the the workers received their work order from the management.

Following the end of their sit-in last Thursday, the workers showed up daily at the factory starting from Saturday, and used to stay from 7am to 3pm (the official working hours) but neither production orders nor raw materials arrived.

The workers are supposed to get paid their June salaries today, according to the agreement.

The workers are also under pressure by the management not to speak with the media. There are still from two to three State Security agents stationed inside the compound, according to a source in the factory.

In other developments, the general assembly of company shareholders, originally scheduled on 30 June, was postponed to 7 July instead. This meeting is expected to determine whether the United Bank will pump money into the factory and revive it properly, or sell it to a new investor within the framework of the agreement struck last week.

Report: 11 labor conflicts during 2nd week of June

Posted on By 3arabawy

The Egyptian Workers and Trade Unions Watch issued its report about the industrial action during the second week of June.

11 Labor protests were documented. (The part about the Mansoura-España Garments Company workers will need to be updated of course, but that will be for the 3rd week of June report, I guess)

Mansoura-España crisis update

Posted on By 3arabawy

It’s 3pm, the workers received their May salaries, their social bonuses and May Day grants for the year 2006. The workers are refusing to leave the factory however before they receive an official document from the management stating the latter received the factory in a good condition.

“Tomorrow is Friday, the day off. The management can sabotage the machines, and then blame us on Saturday when we show up,” said one of the female garment workers in a telephone interview.

I asked another male worker, also on the phone, what they would do on Saturday, and whether there were any production orders they would work on. “No, we have not received a single production order from the management in a month and half, as the bank was planning to liquidate the firm. We will show up on time on Saturday, and stay in the factory from 7am to 3pm. If the management brings us a production order, we’ll resume work right away. If there is not, then we will stay in the factory.”

Asked about the workers’ response if they showed up on Saturday only to find their company closed down, the male worker said they were planning to protest outside the company and blockade the highway in front of the factory, while the female worker asserted they were planning to storm the factory again and occupy it if the United Bank betrays the agreement.