Workers at Al-Amir Ceramics in 10th of Ramadan City, Sharqiya governorate, continued their strike for a fourth consecutive day to protest the delayed payment of their June wages. They are demanding that salaries be paid regularly by the fifth of each month at the latest and that suspended health insurance services be restored, two workers told Al Manassa.
One of the workers, both of whom asked not to be named, said the ceramics company has routinely delayed salary payments over recent months until after the 20th of the following month, leaving many workers unable to meet their families’ needs and forcing them into debt.
He added that hundreds of workers traveled to the factory by taxi at their own expense after the company’s bus drivers joined the strike. Management tried to persuade them to return to work, but the strikers refused, saying they would return only after receiving their wages, securing a commitment that future salaries would be paid on time, and having the company’s health insurance services restored.
Workers are also complaining of low wages. According to the two sources, the average monthly salary is no more than 6,000 Egyptian pounds (about $120), below the minimum wage of 8,000 pounds ($160).
“I’ve been with the company for 15 years and my salary is 6,200 pounds. Some workers earn even less,” the second worker said. “Most workers no longer receive the production bonus because performance targets have been raised. On top of that, our health insurance has been suspended for months because of the company’s accumulated debts to the Social Insurance Authority.”
The second worker also said the company refuses to renew the licenses for what he described as “dilapidated” vehicles that he argues put workers’ lives at risk.
In a statement Wednesday, the Center for Trade Union and Workers’ Services expressed solidarity with the striking workers, calling repeated disruptions to health insurance coverage at multiple workplaces in recent months “a serious failure” requiring urgent government intervention. It said workers should not lose access to medical care because employers fail to pay social insurance contributions while continuing to deduct those contributions from employees’ wages.
The labor rights group called on the company to immediately pay all overdue wages and settle its outstanding social insurance obligations to restore workers’ health coverage. It also urged the Ministry of Labor, the National Social Insurance Authority, and the Health Insurance Authority to intervene, monitor the company’s compliance with its legal obligations, and ensure no workers or drivers face retaliation for taking part in the strike.
In February last year, Al-Amir Ceramics workers went on strike to demand implementation of the minimum wage. During that strike, police arrested 10 workers and referred them to the 10th of Ramadan prosecution after the company accused them of vandalism and inciting strike action. Prosecutors later released them without bail after management and workers agreed to end the strike in exchange for the company dropping its complaints.
