EL-MAHALLAH - Workers in a Nile Delta ginning company briefly blocked the main roads Saturday, threatening to commit suicide under trains over a dispute with their employer over paying their wages. Employees from the Nile Cotton Ginning Company in the el-Mahalla el-Kobra and Kafr el-Zayyat branches blocked the main roads of their cities and laid down on rail tracks, halting the traffic for half an hour, a security official in el-Mahalla said. He added that the workers had not ended their protest until security officials and those from the company pledged to meet their demands. The workers complained about the manager's alleged abuse of authority and his refusal to pay their annual raise and allowances three years ago. Some of them said that committing suicide under the trains' wheels would be better than working for the company. Officials from the company were not immediately available for comment. El-Mahalla el-Kobra, around 140km north of Cairo, has been the scene of labour protests and strikes before. In 2008, around 8,000 workers held a strike calling for higher pay. Two workers died during the strike. Skyrocketing food prices in Egypt during the past two years have triggered a rumbling wave of popular discontent and unprecedented numbers of strikes and demonstrations.
