Sixteen gas workers arrested in Qena, Sohag after protesting subcontracting

The National Security Agency arrested 16 workers from branches of the Modern Gas Company in Sohag and Qena governorates on Friday after branch workers held demonstrations to demand job security, according to two sources who spoke to Mada Masr.

The first source, one of the workers from Sohag, said that the security agency launched a “campaign on homes” on Friday evening, arresting seven people in the governorate, while the second source, a worker from Qena, said that a simultaneous campaign saw nine of his colleagues arrested.

Workers at the Qena branch began to hold demonstrations on Tuesday with workers at Sohag joining them the following day. 

They complained to officials at local labor directorates about deductions to their monthly salaries, paid to the Arab Company for Supplies and Contracting, a subcontractor used by Modern Gas, and demanded instead that the latter employ them directly. 

The directorate promised to look into the problem, according to one of the workers. 

One of the striking workers previously explained to Mada Masr that they have no job stability despite working for Modern Gas for 10 years. They have been employed under a subcontract renewed annually, which sees around LE1,300 per month deducted from his salary and redirected in subcontracting fees. 

Modern Gas is a joint-stock company affiliated with the Petroleum Ministry. It was established through the merger of three companies: Regional Gas, Sinai Gas and Cairo Gas. Modern Gas supplies natural gas to industrial and commercial facilities and homes in projects including New Alamein City and the New Administrative Capital.