Workers Before Profits: Sisi Holds Responsibility for the Blood of Aswan Cement Workers

Statement by the Revolutionary Socialists

In a tragic event that reveals the harsh realities of life for the people under Sisi’s rule, three workers at Medicom Aswan Cement Company were fatally burned last Sunday, July 23, while performing maintenance on a furnace. Two other workers are still in critical condition in the hospital.

The company, owned by powerful businessmen—including the brother of current MP Moataz Mohamed Mahmoud—has seen its workers fighting since 2003 for basic safety measures, permanent contracts for temporary workers, and wages that barely exceed 1,800 pounds. Meanwhile, the company rakes in hundreds of millions in profits each year, with no response from the employer or state institutions; both seem to operate under the motto “let them work, let them pass.”

Forced by financial desperation, the workers worked under coercion until disaster struck. The factory manager insisted that the workers maintain the furnace while the plant ran. He ordered them to enter a room where temperatures soared to 1,500 degrees Celsius. When they hesitated, the manager threatened to take away their livelihoods.

Knowing that the state has never, and would never, listen to their complaints—and that refusal would likely push their families into poverty, or worse, label them as terrorists and land them in prison—the workers gave in. They entered the room, and moments later, burning materials fell on them, killing two workers instantly. A third engineer later died from his injuries, while two others are still in critical condition.

The tragedy didn’t stop there. The workers went on strike and staged a sit-in to demand justice for their fallen colleagues and to push for the demands they’ve been fighting for all along. But even the horrific deaths by fire didn’t protect them from further harm. Security forces cracked down on the protesting workers, arresting dozens of them on Thursday, July 27. Yesterday, prosecutors ordered eight of them to be detained for four days, accusing them of vandalism, refusing to work, and inciting unrest.

This is just another example of the brutal reality of capitalism under Sisi. The security forces have become nothing more than a tool in the hands of the business elite, where profits and personal connections are the only things that matter.

The workers who died in this tragedy now join the long list of those who’ve perished from neglect in prisons or been executed without trial—victims of this oppressive regime.

The Revolutionary Socialists fully stand in solidarity with the workers of Aswan Cement Company. They demand that Sisi, the Minister of Manpower, and the Minister of Interior be prosecuted for the deliberate killing of workers. They also call on democratic political forces to form a committee to support the factory workers, fight for their demands, seek justice for the victims, and hold those responsible for their deaths accountable. Additionally, they call for continued efforts to secure labor laws (including work regulations, social security, and health insurance) that protect the rights of wage earners.
As for the labor movement, the situation is more apparent than ever. If labor leaders across all workplaces don’t unite to seek justice for the three workers who were burned alive, push for proper safety measures, and secure the release of the arrested workers, we can expect similar tragedies to happen again and again.

Ultimately, the current state of affairs shows that capitalism is the true enemy of workers, and the only solution is to fight for a socialist system that eliminates exploitation, oppression, and tyranny and upholds the principle of “Workers Before Profits.”
Long live the working-class struggle.

Down with Sisi, down with the capitalist elite.