• 09:08
  • Tuesday ,24 July 2012
العربية

Egypt Mahalla workers make some gains, suspend strike

By-Ahram

Home News

00:07

Tuesday ,24 July 2012

Egypt Mahalla workers make some gains, suspend strike

 Thousands of workers at the Mahalla Misr Spinning and Weaving Company have suspended on Sunday their strike after a meeting with President Mohamed Morsi's legal advisor, according to Kamal Fayoumi, a labour union figure in Mahalla.

The company's administration issued a statement Sunday evening agreeing to a number of the workers' demands including the increase in profit sharing and fixed raises, as well as healthcare reform procedures in the company's hospital.
 
Workers representatives also received a promise from Morsi's legal advisor that he would schedule a meeting with the ministers of industry and business to discuss the workers' demands after the Islamic holy month of Ramadan finishes on 18 August, Fayoumi told Ahram Online.
 
A decision on whether to resume the strike would be taken after the meeting, Fayoumi added.
 
Workers at the state-owned factory had been on strike since 15 July to demand the removal of the holding company's chairman and upper management in addition to calling for a greater share of 2011 profits and increases in end of service remunerations.
 
The company, which employs some 24,000 people and is the largest textile manufacturer Egypt, has seen a series of strikes over similar demands within the last 18 months.
 
Strikes by Mahalla’s textile workers in 2006 and 2008 are widely seen as having partially set the stage for last year’s Tahrir Square uprising, which culminated in the ouster of Egypt’s longstanding president Hosni Mubarak.