Workers at the Ministry of Religious Endowments staged Sunday a protest in front of the cabinet, demanding more economic rights, including “health and social insurance”.
Ministry workers are different from employees, as they are responsible for cleaning and maintenance, as well as administering ministry-registered mosques.
Sabry Shehata, one of the striking workers, told Daily News Egypt that they have been calling on the ministry since 2011 to give them the right to be included on the ministry’s insurance lists.
He added that almost 600 workers in Giza are escalating the issue in different courts and the country’s State Council.
Shehata, who is working in Al-Huda mosque in Awsim, said that they are prevented from privileges and cannot be promoted.
“After four years of negligence, we went to the cabinet to escalate. The riot police dispersed our protest and detained two of our colleagues were detained for a while,” he said. Shehata added that they were, after a while, released in exchange for removing the protest to the street next to the cabinet.
Later on Sunday, representatives from the cabinet met a two man delegation from the workers, who were promised a written response by Thursday
Another worker, who requested anonymity, said that many of the workers have been in the ministry for six years, “yet they don’t have proof that they work for the government amidst negligence from the officials”.
“We want our voice to reach President [Abdel Fattah] Al-Sisi who vowed that Egyptians will live a decent life,” the worker added.
According to Egyptian law, a court can refer strikers to early retirement if it is proven they have taken part in or were directly involved in a strike.
El-Mahrousa Center for Socioeconomic Development (MCSD) released a report Saturday saying that 385 labour strikes have taken place in the last three months, despite the presence of the harsh law to counter workers’ dissent.
The Ministry of Religious Endowments formed part of the report, with a percentage of the workers reported to have participated in a strike.
Strikes in Egypt usually dispersed by force or by threat of suspension have acted as a main source of opposition to different governments.
Meanwhile, the state and mainstream media, have repeatedly called on workers to refrain from striking and to increase “the wheels of production”. This is to achieve stability and security, using nationalistic rhetoric to argue that striking “would allow terrorists to capitalise”.
Shehata told Daily News Egypt that the workers do not want to oppose state institutions, but want to demand their basic rights. He added: “We are not here to riot or cause damage but to ensure that our voices are heard.”
Since the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, the Ministry of Religious Endowments has been a vocal supporter of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, and has been given the responsibility of preventing anti-government preachers from holding sermons in mosques.
