The Imprisonment of Tora Workers: A New Stain on the Brow of the Counter-Revolution

Statement by the Revolutionary Socialists

Another disgrace has stained the counter-revolutionary regime. Today, a court sentenced 32 workers from the Tora Cement Company to three years in prison simply for demanding their right to work and peacefully protesting at their workplace.

The imprisoned Tora Cement workers are contract laborers enduring severe hardship. Their exploitation by business people is increasing, all under the protection of the authorities. The 32 workers were convicted on false charges, including attacking public officials and thuggery, despite there being no medical reports to back these claims.

This ruling adds to the long list of crimes committed by the counter-revolutionary regime, which has been relentlessly oppressing workers and the poor for the past four years. Their tactics include security crackdowns, targeting labor leaders, and suppressing all forms of union and labor activities. Meanwhile, their economic policies have impoverished workers and pushed more than a quarter of the population below the poverty line.

The verdict shows how the regime’s attack on the working class has intensified. Oppression, repression, tyranny, and impoverishment have become the hallmarks of its policies. At the same time, it reveals the regime’s growing fear of an inevitable uprising, which is becoming more likely under their current policies.

While the regime pushes forward with economic policies dictated by the International Monetary Fund—policies that benefit the business class and investors—life for people experiencing poverty has become unbearable due to skyrocketing prices and the deterioration of public services.

As the regime uses every tool of oppression to prevent any form of opposition to these policies, it accelerates the very explosion of public outrage that its security forces won’t be able to contain.
The story of the Tora Cement workers, who were left at the mercy of labor contractors by the counter-revolutionary regime, deprived of their rights, and even denied the right to demand fair work for decent pay, only to end up sentenced to prison, is truly a stain on an authority that has become a trafficker in Egyptians, a profiteer who will sell anything to stay in power.

The decision to imprison these workers is a clear message to all those fighting for democracy and justice: the only way to bring about change is by uniting in the struggle against this regime of poverty and tyranny. The Tora Cement workers are just the latest in a line of workers sent to the regime’s prisons and courts, following in the footsteps of the Public Transport Authority workers, the Naval Arsenal workers, and IFCO company workers. It’s now clear that standing up to oppression and impoverishment will only succeed through unity and firm resolve.

Political and labor movements have a lot of work ahead of them to support these workers. This includes forming a committee to provide for them regularly and organizing the cement workers to contribute a part of their salaries to support the families of their detained colleagues. The Revolutionary Socialists also called for a political solidarity campaign to continue until the workers were released. It’s crucial to spread a culture of solidarity among workers and for opposing political forces to stand with them. If our enemy is fierce and armed with all the tools of power, we will continue to face defeats unless we revive the spirit of solidarity.

Long live the struggle of the Tora Cement workers
Long live the struggle of the working class