Management at EMAK Paper Manufacturing Co. in Ain Sokhna, Suez governorate, summoned eight workers for internal questioning over their participation in a sit-in demanding higher wages and overdue financial entitlements, three workers told Al Manassa.
Workers at the company, a subsidiary of Kuwait’s Al-Kharafi Group, continued their sit-in inside the factory for a ninth day. Personnel from the National Security and General Security sectors were present, alongside officers from Ataka Police Department and officials from the Ataka labor office who told workers they could do nothing beyond documenting their demands in an official report.
One worker said the eight received notices from management on Monday morning instructing them to appear before the Legal Affairs Department at the company’s Nasr City headquarters on Wednesday, where they would be questioned over alleged legal violations described as “unlawful assembly and sit-in, and threatening to halt operations inside the factory.”
Notice from the management of the EMAK Paper Manufacturing Co. in Ain Sokhna regarding the referral of one of the workers for investigation, July 20, 2026The worker denied the allegations in the notice, saying the protesters had done nothing illegal. They were demanding their legal right to the state-mandated minimum wage, higher allowances, and overdue payments, he said, adding that profit-sharing payments had been suspended since 2022.
The second worker said their average monthly salary was about 5,500 Egyptian pounds (around $107). “I’ve been with the company for more than 10 years and earn 6,000 pounds. Some workers earn 4,500 pounds. Even the highest-paid worker among us earns no more than 7,000 or 8,000 pounds. How are we supposed to live with prices this high?”
“All we have done is do our jobs and stay overnight in the company yard, sitting in the scorching heat so someone will take notice of us,” he added. “We haven’t damaged anything or caused any unrest, as they allege. Both shifts are operating, production has increased, and export shipments are leaving the factory as usual. Why are they questioning our colleagues? Are they trying to scare us into giving up our rights? Or do they want to make the eight scapegoats?”
According to the workers who spoke to Al Manassa, they are demanding that the daily meal allowance rise to 100 pounds from 25 pounds. They also want the hazard allowance raised to 1,000 pounds, noting that it previously stood at 40 pounds a month but was discontinued years ago.
Workers are also demanding potable water instead of the treated seawater used in manufacturing, as management distributes bottled water only to office employees. “They even deny us a little clean water,” the third worker said.
In 2012, EMAK workers held a sit-in lasting about two weeks over low wages, suspended profit-sharing payments, and management’s failure to implement an agreement reached with them. According to Al-Masry Al-Youm’s reporting at the time, two workers self-immolated, killing one. Dozens of workers also went on hunger strike over management intransigence.
