A Thousand Salutes to the Workers of Samannoud: Lessons from the Long Struggle and Future Tasks

Statement by the Revolutionary Socialists

The workers’ strike at the Samannoud Textile and Weaving Company came to an end today, with all departments resuming work after more than a month of a brave and determined strike led by the workers, especially the women in the clothing department, the largest in the company and the driving force behind the strike. Throughout the tough days of the strike, hunger and poverty mixed with intimidation and arrests.

The importance of this brave strike lies in the fact that it began on August 17 despite a heavy security clampdown. The media narrative droning on for over a decade about future successes and achievements crumbled under the weight of the harsh and painful living conditions wage workers face.

The panicked and troubled regime, fully aware of the potential impact if the strike succeeded in achieving its demands—potentially encouraging other sectors to claim their rights—had no choice but to pressure the workers by stopping their wages and arresting the female workers at dawn, not even allowing them time to change their clothes. This shameful incident marks the regime’s historical footprint, not through any supposed accomplishments but through its oppressive actions.

Although the Samannoud strike ended without achieving the primary goal of implementing a minimum wage, it did manage to force small wage increases. While these increases are hardly enough to counter the rising cost of living, they signify an essential victory in pushing the administration and the state to concede to end the strike. Moreover, suspended workers were reinstated—except for the former head of the union committee—and the administration promised to address the workers’ primary demand for a minimum wage increase within ten days.

Calling this strike brave isn’t just about praising the workers, though they absolutely deserve it. It’s about recognizing the harsh conditions they faced and the importance of the lessons learned from their struggle.

The strike revealed several vital takeaways, both positive and negative, that are worth closely examining. Some of the most important include:
1. The workers’ insistence on standing by their detained and suspended colleagues was inspired by the labor movement’s principle of “Release before production.”
2. The fact that the strike lasted more than a month is rare in today’s climate of heavy-handed police control since 2013. This points to a solid organizational effort that kept the strike going for the weekend and a supportive and sympathetic community.
3. The fierce determination shown by the strikers, especially the women, who were the true leaders of the strike and the last to give in to management’s threats to end the strike. This reaffirms the fighting spirit of the female workers, bringing to mind the famous chant of the Mahalla workers during their 2006-2007 strike: “Where are the men? Here are the women.”
4. Workers have reached a point where they have nothing left to lose due to skyrocketing prices, and we should expect more significant actions in the coming period.
5. The temporary workers’ refusal to break the strike by operating the machines resulted in the administration terminating the contracts of seven temporary employees.
6. The revival of political solidarity with the workers, a phenomenon that had disappeared for years due to repression and isolation. The solidarity movement broke the siege imposed on the workers, organized various solidarity events, arranged an important media visit to the company, and showed support for the detained workers in front of the prosecutor’s office.
7. The lack of union organization weakened the workers’ ability to negotiate and organize, a challenge that must be addressed and overcome.
8. Reestablish strike funds, adapted to the workers’ circumstances and the security environment, to support their resilience during tough times.

This strike has proven to political forces that their true allies in the fight for freedom and justice are in the streets, not the corridors of power or behind closed-door negotiations. The beating heart of our struggle against tyranny and poverty lies within the working class.
The refusal to reinstate the former head of the union committee is not just an act of stubbornness by the company against one individual; it reflects the regime’s broader goal of hindering any form of worker organization. This forces the workers and union forces to devise new ways to organize and resist these obstacles.

Some may think that the Samannoud workers’ strike and their endurance for over a month were in vain. But we believe that the road to socialism, freedom, and democracy is paved with both small victories and setbacks. A just society will not simply come into existence on its own.

The “Revolutionary Socialists” movement salutes the inspiring and instructive resilience of the Samannoud textile workers and calls on all political and union forces to continue supporting them in their fight for the return of union leader Hisham El-Banna, the reinstatement of the seven temporary workers, the implementation of the minimum wage, and the establishment of their union organization.

The movement also emphasizes the need to build on the recent solidarity efforts to create the broadest possible social front to defend the rights of wage workers in the face of the continuous and aggressive assault by the regime of savage neoliberalism, backed by its security forces, against the living conditions of the working class.

Long live the struggle of the Samannoud textile workers
Long live the struggle of the working class