The Administrative Court ruled to return the Shbeen Weaving Company to the state on Monday, almost bringing to a close a seven year saga.
The Company, originally state property, was privatised and sold to Andorama Shbeen Textile in 2006.
Following the court’s verdict, workers headed to the holding company to have the ruling implemented. The textiles holding company was among the parties which participated in the sale of Shbeen Weaving Company.
Mahmoud Al-Beheiry, worker at the Shbeen Weaving Company, said: “We have delegated our lawyer, Khaled Aly, alongside a worker representative, to negotiate with the head of the holding company.”
Al-Beheiry joined other workers from the weaving company outside the holding company’s headquarters in Cairo.
Khaled Aly is the head of the Egyptian Centre for Economic and Social Rights (ECESR); the organisation which has been handling the legal battle to de-privatise Shbeen Weaving Company.
Al-Beheiry said the workers demanded a new company board of directors; “to install temporary employees and return our rights.” He added that workers can never be productive as long as the future of the company they work for remains unstable.
Lawyer Hamdy Al-Fakharany, filed a report against Prime Minister Hesham Qandil, requiring him to implement the court ruling.
Al-Fakharany, alongside other lawyers, filed a lawsuit in 2010 at the Administrative Court, demanding the sale of Shbeen Weaving Company be revoked. The lawsuit stated that the company was sold in a manner which breached bidding laws, adding that the sale also forfeited the company’s workers.
The administrative court ruled in favour of Al-Fakharany’s suit in September 2011, accusing the government of wasting public money. The court ruling was challenged by the government and the chemical holding company.
