Demonstration by the Future Company Workers
The workers of the Future Pipes Company presented a report today to the Attorney General demanding an investigation into the company's use of toxic materials, discontinuance of the use of these materials, and an investigation into the death of one of the company's workers resulting from his usage of the materials.
Mahmoud Mohsen al-Qiady works at the Future Pipes Company, which employs around 500 workers in 6 of October City. He stated: “Today, fourteen workers who were dismissed from the company three months ago on charges of inciting workers to strike faced the Attorney General, in the course of a chain of actions organized by the workers against the Lebanese investor and owner of the company. We met with the Attorney General, who promised us that he would open an investigation, and organized a protest in front of his headquarters.” Mahmoud continued: “We then met with the General Union for Egyptian Workers, which failed to stand by our side. The President of the General Syndicate merely encouraged us to accept the compensation offered by the company administrations, and refused to offer us a subsidy from the Union's fund on the basis that we are not members of the Syndicate.”
Mahmoud stated that the workers were determined to receive their rights, particularly after opening the lines of communication with workers in the company's Lebanon branches, whose owner liquidated and shut down the company, displacing 500 Lebanese workers. They issued a statement in solidarity with the workers as follows: “After the blatant abuse practiced by the Future Pipes Company administration, in both Egypt and Lebanon, represented by Fouad al-Makhzoumy, his family, legal advisors, and close affiliates within in the “National Discussion Party,” we find ourselves as workers forced to stand in the face of the exploitation and the violation of our rights and of our rightful earnings.”
In addition the fourteen workers who were fired and forced defend their rights, the Lebanese investor has displaced 200 workers over the course of the last two years, forcing them to resign. The company has twelve branches in countries throughout Europe and the Middle East.
