13,000 Workers Displaced, 81 Protests in March

13,000 Workers Displaced, 81 Protests in March

In light of the ongoing unsuccessful government policies, static wages, skyrocketing prices, and financial crisis, last March witnessed a drastic change in the pattern of labor dynamics manifested in the laying off and displacement of more than 13,000 workers, 32 sit-ins, 18 strikes, 16 demonstrations, and 15 protests, according to a report issued by Sons of the Earth Center for Human Rights.


 


Gharbiyya Governor General Abdul-Hameed El-Shennawy’s shutting down of 100 blanket factories in El-Mahalla El-Kobra alone displaced 6,000 workers.


 


In the 10th of Ramadan city, Ceramica Cleopatra laid off 450 workers on the pretext of the global financial crisis.


 


In Cairo, two marble factories in Shiqq El-Thu’ban were removed leading to the displacement of 300 workers.  In addition, an occupation office in Giza received 400 complaints from workers in hotels and tourist companies protesting against their layoff.


 


The most notable of these protests was the sit-in held by thousands of administrators from the Ministry of Education in front of the Council of Ministers and governorate education directorates to protest against their unpaid bonuses and exclusion from the academic staff.  Another sit-in of 4,000 workers from Egypt-Shebin El-Koum Company for Weaving and Textile was also held to protest against the company administration’s ignoring to pay their profits and bonuses.


 


The picture was mixed with the sad stories of four workers who attempted suicide because of their bad life conditions, one of them dying from grief over his son who died because he was unable to purchase the necessary medicine for his treatment, another who failed to find a job and two others who were unable to spend on their families.