Labour groups and movements demanded Sunday the immediate return of the Suez based Misr-Iran factory, with the workers accusing the management of faking losses.
The workers have been protesting in front of the company in the governorate of Suez since last week, refusing the management’s decision of giving 2,000 workers an open ended vacation.
The crisis started after the company’s assets in banks were frozen, which resulted in a shortage of raw material in the factory.
Last week, Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb intervened to solve the problem of the workers. The statement added that although government officials have been meeting for a week, no suggested solutions have been put forward.
“Is freezing the assets will be considered a new technique of privatisation?” the statement said.
The statement said the management did not pay its debt to government apparatuses and paid bribes, causing the creation of a considerable balance. The groups also accused the management of collaborating with private lawyers and businessmen to sell the factory, as well as convince the workers that only by selling the company would it compensate the losses.
The group therefore demanded the ouster of the current manger and the election of new board directors by the workers, asserting that the workers will not approve the factory’s sale.
The signatories included the Egyptian Socialist Party’s branch in Suez, the Worker’s Struggle Current, the Textile workers in Koum Hamada and Kafr Al-Dawar.
Previously, the workers threatened to sue the management and demand the workers’ return.
In many cases, Egyptian workers take to court to protest the closure of factories by managements who usually argue that the company is loss-making.
