Final Statement of the Solidarity Conference with the Women and Men Workers of Samannoud Weaving Factory

Statement by the Revolutionary Socialists

We are publishing the final statement from the solidarity conference with the women and men workers of Samannoud Weaving Factory, which took place yesterday, organized by a group of Egyptian female journalists, the Bread and Freedom Party (under formation), and the Revolutionary Socialists Movement.

We, the undersigned—parties, unions, and individuals—declare our full solidarity with the women and men workers of Samannoud Weaving Factory, whose sit-in and strike have now entered their twentieth day. They are demanding the minimum wage and the release of their colleague, Hisham El-Banna, who remains in detention after the prosecution decided to extend his imprisonment on charges, including attempting to overthrow the regime, as a punishment for his participation in the strike. This clearly violates the law, the constitution, and international agreements Egypt has signed, which guarantee the right to strike.

As we continue to support the women and men workers of Samannoud Weaving Factory through peaceful means, we call on the company’s management to stop intimidating the workers, respect the law in dealing with them, revoke the suspension of ten workers, and pay the August salaries.

We firmly reject the policies of threats and pressure against the workers, which began with the arrest of women workers, the assault on their family members during the arrests, their enforced disappearance for two days, and subjecting them to interrogation without legal representation. We also condemn the cutting off of electricity, stopping ventilation fans in the work areas, surrounding the company with security forces, and the various threats from some members of parliament, who should have defended the workers’ right to exercise their legal rights to sit-in, strike, and peacefully express themselves or negotiated on their behalf for the enforcement of the government’s decision to raise the minimum wage from 3,500 to 6,000 Egyptian pounds last May. Additionally, we strongly oppose the detention and deprivation of food for the workers. We warn against attempts by private sector companies to evade implementing the minimum wage decision and ignore the waves of price increases that have made living conditions unbearable in Egypt.

Political parties, unions, and individuals also warn of these ongoing attempts by private companies to avoid implementing the government’s decision to raise the minimum wage from 3,500 to 6,000 pounds.

In light of the worsening impact of economic policies that have driven large segments of Egyptians below the poverty line, we call upon all political parties, unions, and all those concerned with social justice to unite in building a front to defend workers, the poor, and the underprivileged against policies that continue to deteriorate living standards and deprive many of even the most basic means of survival.