CAIRO: Tens of Al-Nasr Automotive company workers protested Thursday in front of Cabinet demanding the implementation of PM Essam Sharaf’s decision to pay them the remainder of their early retirement incentives.
A consultation committee assigned by Sharaf to examine the issue approved workers’ demands and the financial appropriation was then approved, but workers say that officials at the Ministry of Investment and the Holding Company for Engineering Industries are refusing to pay them.
“Our demands were met and the issue is over but Zaki Bassiouny, head of the holding company, and Ahmed Abdel Ghaffar, the company’s CEO, as well as officials at the ministry are refusing to pay us,” said Salah Yehia, an engineer at Al-Nasr Automotive.
Over 3,100 workers at the company were forced to accept early retirement schemes between 2005 and 2010. The company stopped production altogether three years ago.
Workers say that they received LE 105,000 while the contract states that the early retirement pay is LE 150,000 and accused Abdel Ghaffar and Bassiouny of stealing this difference.
They said that the company’s land was sold for LE 1.2 billion and that there was enough cash to cover their payments.
“They have been postponing it for one month now and are blaming it on the Ministry of Finance,” Yehia said.
They filed a complaint to the Prosecutor General to investigate the case.
