5,000 workers on strike at food company in Beheira

Around 5,000 workers are on strike at the Jawhara Food Processing Company over poor wages and three years' worth of unpaid bonuses.

Workers began striking two days ago at the company's branch in the Nile Delta governorate of Beheira. They claim the purchasing power of their wages has deteriorated over the past few years due to rising inflation and prices for consumer goods.

Striker Mohamed Ahmed told the privately owned Al-Dostour news portal that his basic wage has remained at an unsustainable LE500 per month.

Manufacturing and packaging snacks, pastries, biscuits, tea and sweets, this highly profitable private sector company has also failed to pay its workers a 7 percent annual bonus for the past three years. Company workers are now demanding a retroactive payment of 21 percent of each employee's basic wage.

But not only is management failing to uphold municipal legislation which stipulates the bonus each year, workers told the state-owned Al-Ahram news portal, but administrators are also threatening to sack any worker who protests or strikes to demand payment.

Several other groups of workers have also gone on strike this past week to demand increased wages and bonuses. Also in Beheira, on Wednesday health insurance employees in the town of Eitai al-Baroud declared a strike to protest poor wages, bonuses and allowances.

Several teachers at the privately owned Ola Garden School in Giza Governorate have been striking since Friday over wages they claim amount to a mere LE420 per month. Friday was a big day for worker protests nationwide, according to the privately owned Al-Watan newspaper, including scores of metro workers at the National Authority for Tunnels who went on strike in protest against a 30 percent deduction in their bonuses and wages.