AL MAHALLA AL KOBRA, Cairo: Ghazl Al Mahalla workers cancelled plans for an open-ended strike beginning July 21 after the union met 85 percent of their demands, Mohammed Al Attar, spokesperson of the December 7 Movement of Ghazl Al Mahhalla Workers told The Daily Star Egypt. The organization has led a series of demonstrations since December 2006 demanding higher salaries and better work conditions. Egypt's General Trade Union of Textile Workers met with seven leaders from the December 7 Movement on Sunday at the Cairo headquarters of the General Union for Workers' Syndicate. Al Attar said that the union's recognition and official invitation gives the organization a sense of legitimacy. That same invitation managed to sideline Seddik Seyam, head of the Ghazl Al Mahalla Workers' Syndicate, who said the union disregarded him as the workers' legitimate and elected representative. No one called me or told me anything about this meeting, Seyam told The Daily Star Egypt. There has been full cooperation from the [General Union for Workers' Syndicate], Al Attar added, "We felt that the head of the union, Hussein Mogawer, was defending us. During the July 1 sit-in, the workers threatened to go on an open-ended strike on July 21 if their demands were not met. Earlier, the company gave a LE 50 raise to production workers, LE 37.5 to assistant workers and LE 25 to administrative employees on condition that the workers give up their annual leave. According to Al Attar, the union said at Sunday's meeting that the workers could keep their raise sans the conditions. The union also promised them a monthly bonus - comprising an undecided percentage of their basic salary - up to 10 percent of the company s annual sales, and special buses for their commute. However, a press release sent to The Daily Star Egypt on Monday from the Ministry of Manpower did not mention transportation or a monthly bonus. It referred, instead, to giving workers a bonus equivalent to 10 work days at the start of the school year and 20 days for religious holidays. They were also promised that the Chairman of the Board of Directors Mahmoud Al Gibaly would be expelled in September, Al Attar told The Daily Star Egypt. Al Gibaly was not available for comment despite several attempts to contact him. For the past 23 years, each worker has received 0.8 piasters for each kilogram of textile produced, totaling an average LE 100-200 per month. Their monthly salary was calculated based on how much textile they produced. Workers are now demanding an unconditional 100 percent increase in their monthly salaries including a revision of how much they get per kilogram of textile. Al Sayed Habib, one of the leaders of the movement, has worked at the company for 42 years. His monthly salary totals LE 750, including bonuses. We need salaries that help us live on the long term, not temporary bonuses, Emad Abd El Hay, a worker and father of three told The Daily Star Egypt. He earns LE 150. The workers are also demanding the company provide transportation to ease their commute since most of them live outside Al Mahalla Al Kobra. They also want to expand the existing one-storey housing blocks to accommodate more workers. Rights are only taken with pressure. The July 1 sit-in and the threat of an open-ended [strike] had a magical effect, Al Attar said. The planned protest would have included around 12,000 out of the company's 27,000 employees, according to Al Attar.
