CAIRO: Workers at Suez Fertilizers Company started another protest Tuesday and threatened to go on hunger strike after the demands of their first protest on Aug. 8-10, were ignored. Kamal El Banna, who had been working at the company for three years, makes LE 560 a month. In addition to working eight hours as well as commuting for two and a half hours per day, he must pay the equivalent of LE 2 a day for a meal. According to El Banna, the company has no by-laws, which is illegal since it operates outside labor-related regulations. For example, the company deducts LE 10-15 from workers without before the obligatory period of 90 days per year between deductions is complete. Over-time does not exceed LE 3 per day, which does not comply with labor regulations. The workers also complain from low payments and bad safety and health standards. El Banna continued that the company once deducted LE 50 from a worker to cover the cost of the ambulance transporting him to hospital at a work emergency. The company does what it likes, said El Banna. Work conditions are terrible, we suffer from safety hazards such as pollution and other factors that could lead to impotence. El Banna added that a protest was inevitable. The first protest, which included 420 workers, elicited concern from the governor, who promised them reforms within a week. However ten day later, when their demands were not met, the workers decided to organize a second sit-in, this time including 320 workers. But Ibrahim Al Azhary, vice president of the Labor Union, denied that there was ever a protest at the company. He says that in a recent meeting with the Minister of Manpower Aisha Abd El Hady, the ministry denied allegations that a protest was held. They said that the syndicate members at the Suez Fertilizers Company themselves agreed and labeled the recent incidents "problems within the company. The ministry of manpower was not available for comment. We will not discontinue the protest until by-laws are set, we will keep pressuring them until the investors start noticing a decline in profit then the company will be forced to comply with our needs, said El Banna. A spokesperson from the Suez Fertilizers Company said that they have not begun discussing the issue yet, but will do so within the next few of days.
