Dozens of workers from the Amonsito textiles company, which closed down when its owner fled Egypt, marched yesterday from the People's Assembly to Banque Misr's headquarters to demand compensation after failure to reach a satisfactory agreement with the People's Assembly Manpower Committee. Representatives for the workers withdrew from the meeting--headed by the President of the Egyptian Trade Union Federation Hussein Megawer and attended by Minister of Manpower and Migration Aisha Abdel Hady--after failing to reach a settlement to compensate for their lost jobs. Outraged at the failure of the meeting, the protesting workers attempted to break into the People's Assembly, but were stopped by security forces. Clashes left a number of people injured. Three workers were arrested, according to security sources. A lawyer from the Center for Economic and Social Rights said seven workers were arrested. The workers marched down Qasr el-Aini, Sheikh Rehan and Tahrir Streets in Downtown all the way to Sherif Street where they interrupted the flow of traffic and started beating on cars. When they reached the headquarters of Banque Misr in Mohamed Farid Street, they started chanting against the Bank's president and the government. Other workers blocked the road to the People's Assembly and lay down in the middle of the street. Some positioned themselves in front of cars belonging to MPs and officials heading to the People's Assembly. Others took off their shirts, and still others threw barricades at the parked cars, damaging several of them. Meanwhile, other protesting workers from the Egyptian Telephone Company and el-Nubaria for Agricultural Engineering expressed their solidarity with the Amonsito workers by beating drums, whistling, and chanting slogans against the government and MPs. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
