As If Forced Labor Wasn’t Enough, Then Came Live Bullets…

Statement by the Revolutionary Socialists

We Condemn the Killing of Worker Hesham Ramadan at Arish Cement and Demand the Prosecution of the Responsible Officer

Hesham Ramadan was one of the workers at Arish Cement, a company affiliated with the Armed Forces. These workers were employed through labor supply companies—Gama and Siac—which provided contracted labor. Their only “crime” was accepting forced labor, choosing the hell they endured over the hell of unemployment. On their very first day at work, they were made to sign a waiver stating that “in the event of any accident, the company bears no responsibility.” But forced labor knows no limits.

When the workers gathered to express their anger over the lack of medical care—just hours after a fellow worker suffered a serious injury when a steel block fell on his foot due to inadequate equipment—the company provided no ambulance no medical aid. Only the injured man’s fellow workers managed to lift the block and pull him to safety, and they waited for hours without receiving any assistance from management. Then, an army armored vehicle arrived—not to provide help but to suppress the workers’ protest. It fired warning shots into the air and at the ground, one of which struck Hesham Ramadan El-Sayed in the neck, killing him instantly, while three other workers were injured.

This was the fate of Hesham Ramadan El-Sayed, from Al-Ayyat, Markaz Turki, who—driven by unemployment—accepted a job with no insurance, medical care, or rights. He endured the scorching desert heat, living in metal rooms that felt like furnaces, without air conditioning or ventilation. Each six-square-meter room housed four workers in conditions that resembled detention cells. He accepted all this hardship to survive, complete his education, and one day get married. But instead of a future, he was met with a bullet to the neck—turning him from a worker into a martyr.

The Towards a Just Labor Law campaign strongly condemns the cold-blooded killing of this worker, who was gunned down without hesitation by soldiers in an armored vehicle carrying out orders to “contain” the workers’ anger. The campaign also condemns the exploitative labor supply system that strips workers of their rights and demands that the officer responsible for Hesham Ramadan’s killing be held accountable. Moreover, it denounces the media blackout surrounding the incident, where the event was either censored, the shooter’s identity concealed, or the murdered workers falsely labeled as “terrorists.”

The campaign calls on workers and their families to unite in strengthening labor solidarity and defending their rights against exploitation. It urges the fight for a fair labor law that bans labor supply companies and all forms of forced labor, guarantees direct employment contracts between workers and employers, ensures workers receive pensions upon retirement, and secures compensation for families in the event of workplace deaths. It also demands decent working conditions that respect workers’ humanity.

No to the cold-blooded killing of workers. No to the legalization of forced labor. Egyptians are not an army of slaves.