CAIRO: After a two-day sit-in, workers of Ghazl Al Mahalla Company threatened to take their strikes to the streets if their demands were not met within five days, the spokesperson of the December 7th Movement of Ghazl Al Mahalla workers, Mohamed Al Attar told Daily News Egypt. Al Attar said that 12,500 workers "will leave the factory grounds and take to the streets, where they will garner public support. The workers have also threatened to cut off the water supply to the homes of some of the area's most prominent engineers, including the head of the board of directors Mahmoud Al Gibaly, by the protest's third day. Now we are calling for ousting Al Gibaly, Hussein Mugawer [the head of the General Union for Workers Syndicate] and canceling the syndicate committee. On the third day, we will request withdrawing confidence from the government and bringing it down, Al Attar said. Three of the leaders of the demonstration, Faysal Nakusha, Magdy Sherif and Al Attar were arrested and remanded in custody. On Sunday, 20,000-22,000 workers staged a sit-in in Tala t Harb Square inside Ghazl Al Mahalla factory objecting to a 20-day bonus - totaling an average of LE 180 - as opposed to 150-day bonus as their share in the company s annual profits and the bonus as lump sum at the beginning of Ramadan and the school year. Al Attar added that security forces have nothing to do with the problem. The Minister of Manpower Aisha Abd Al Hady and Mugawer, were not available for comment.
