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Mada
13-03-2025
- Business
- Mada
State water bill collectors in Qalyubiya suspend protest after company promises to meet demands
In the face of the Qalyubiya Drinking Water and Sanitation Company's push in recent months to move workers to commission-based contracts, bill collectors staged a one-day protest on Tuesday. In addition to their demand to halt pressure to change to a casualized labor contract, workers at the Qanater protest demanded the reinstatement of their health insurance cards, which the company suspended a year ago, as well as the enforcement of the government-mandated minimum wage amid rising living costs and the demanding nature of their job. Tuesday's protests took place across water stations affiliated with the state's Holding Company for Drinking Water and Wastewater in Banha, Khusus, Shubra al-Kheima, Qanater al-Khairiya and Khanka. Workers suspended the protest on Wednesday, one day in, after company management made promises to address their concerns. The demonstrations ended after workers received a phone call from someone working at a security agency. 'Someone from the National Security Agency — we don't know who — called us and said they scheduled a meeting for us with the company chair for [Wednesday] to resolve the issue,' one worker told Mada Masr. On Wednesday morning, workers' representatives met with company chair Mostafa Megahed, who promised to grant them a financial bonus by Sunday at the latest, according to Mohamed Dawoud, a spokesperson for the bill collectors who spoke to Mada Masr. Dawoud, who attended the Wednesday meeting, said Megahed agreed that the company branches would stop pressuring workers to sign new 'agency contracts' to replace their current ones. Megahed also pledged to review their demand for permanent contracts and implement the minimum wage starting April. Currently, many bill collectors work under temporary contracts – defined by the labor law as work that is by its nature part of the employer's business, but for a period of less than one year — that are supposed to pay a fixed salary of LE500 and then a 1.5 percent commission of all bills they collect. In reality, however, 'the company only pays the commission — if you collect, you get paid; if you don't, there's no salary,' the worker said. And even if workers were to receive the fixed component of their salary, it would still fall far below the legally mandated public sector minimum wage of LE6,000. 'The highest possible salary is LE3,300, and only a few even get that. Where is the minimum wage?' asked a worker from the Qaha water company. Another protester in Khanka, employed for six years, told Mada Masr that their monthly income never exceeded LE2,500, as it is entirely dependent on their collection rate. Rather than attempt to remedy the pay gap between the legally mandated minimum wage and workers' actual pay, the company has tried to pressure its collectors to accept 'agency contracts,' which would normalize the status quo of commission-based pay without a fixed wage and strip temporary-contracted workers of their right to permanent contracts, which they are entitled to after six years of continuous part-time employment. Agency contracts would reclassify workers as commission-based workers rather than company employees, effectively stripping them of labor rights such as health and social insurance. Since June, the company has repeatedly threatened workers with termination if they refused to switch to agency contracts, a worker from Qanater said. By September, it ramped up the pressure by hiring new collectors under the agency system while restricting non-compliant workers to a single collection ledger — compared to up to four given to agency-contracted collectors. This significantly reduced their earnings as it cut into their ability to collect commissions. According to the worker, who has worked with the company on a temporary contract for six years, water collectors' wages have dropped to an average of LE2,000 since last September — down from between LE3,000 and LE4,000 — after they refused to sign the company's new agency contracts. The agency contracts would also allow the company to avoid granting temporary workers permanent contracts after a certain amount of time, which they are obliged to do by law but have refused to grant in many instances. The Khanka worker told Mada Masr that one of the reasons workers rejected the 'agency contract' is that it would nullify their seniority under their current one. 'That means all my years of work will be erased, and I'd have to start from scratch,' they said. Water bill collectors in Qanater have attempted to push back against the company's evasion of handing out permanent contracts, having filed a complaint with the Labor Ministry Directorate in Toukh in June. However, the office refused to register their complaint, informing them that their contracts were effectively permanent since they renewed automatically, and that complaints could only be filed in cases of termination, according to the Qanater worker. Several workers have filed lawsuits demanding permanent contracts, the Qaha company worker said, adding that their own case has been postponed multiple times, with a verdict expected on March 25. A lawyer representing Qalyubiya's water company workers told Mada Masr on condition of anonymity that most employees — whether under permanent contracts and denied their bonuses or temporary commission-based workers — have taken legal action against the company. Temporary workers, the lawyer argued, should also be entitled to bonuses and promotions after years of service. Some workers have already secured final court rulings ordering the company to pay their dues, but 'the company refuses to enforce them, including final rulings from the Court of Cassation.' The Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities Ministry and the Holding Company for Water and Wastewater have recorded the names of workers involved in these lawsuits, the lawyer said. Officials assured the lawyer that the issue would be resolved 'after Eid al-Adha,' which is in June. The lawyer has also filed cases against the company over its failure to implement the minimum wage, with proceedings still ongoing, according to them. Water bill collection is a core function of the water company, making it impermissible to employ collectors under temporary contracts with wages below the legal minimum, said Mohab Aboud, coordinator of the alliance of labor secretariats in parties and unions. Speaking to Mada Masr after a wave of protests broke out in April last year, he noted that demonstrations by water collectors and meter readers had persisted for several months across multiple governorates, including Qalyubiya, Giza, Minya and Assiut. The largest protest took place in Aswan, where workers staged a ten-day sit-in. In recent years the government has attempted to cut back on what it calls a 'bloated' civil service workforce. In 2015, the president issued a contentious civil service law that served to halt bonuses, slow wage increases and limit the promotions of countless civil servants, while granting sweeping powers to state-appointed company administrators. Numerous protests were staged against the civil service law in 2015. Civil servants argued President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi didn't confer with them or their unions before it was introduced. In the end, the newly elected 2015 Parliament chose not to ratify the presidential decree, making it the only law out of 342 issued before the Parliament convened that the legislative body rejected. Subsequent legislative efforts to thin out the expansive civil service force have seen Parliament grant the state the right to sack civil servants put on terrorism lists even if they are yet to be investigated on suspicion of terrorism, as well as workers deemed to have 'violated professional duties' in ways that harm 'economic interest or national production' and if there is 'serious evidence' that an employee has 'undermined national security and stability.'
Mada
04-03-2025
- Business
- Mada
Rice export ban for everyone but Argany
In early February, the Egyptian Customs Authority renewed its ban on rice exports, which has been in place for over eight years per the given rationale that it will help conserve the country's scarce water resources. Yet, just six days later, Sons of Sinai for Trading and General Contracting, a subsidiary of the Organi Group, 'proudly' announced it is exporting rice to 18 countries. Official data published in January showed a 3,808 percent increase in the value of Egypt's rice exports during the first ten months of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. Traders and farmers speaking to Mada Masr attribute this surge to undisclosed exemptions granted to Sons of Sinai, owned by business magnate Ibrahim al-Argany, whose political and economic influence has grown significantly in recent years, in close collaboration with the state. According to sources in the rice trade, the company leveraged these privileges to impose compulsory fees on every ton of rice exported through them. While the government insists the export ban remains in effect, officials tell Mada Masr that these shipments are designated as humanitarian aid. But rice industry insiders tell a different story — one of a trade entangled in political and economic interests, benefiting a select few. *** For over two decades, successive governments have imposed restrictions on rice cultivation and exports in response to the country's water scarcity crisis. Rice is a water-intensive crop, consuming what the government estimates to be 25 percent of Egypt's annual Nile water allocation of 55 billion cubic meters. Despite the ban, the government periodically allowed exports under pressure from traders, in exchange for fines of up to LE2,000 per ton, which were to be paid to the Supply Ministry. Since 2016, however, authorities have taken a stricter stance, imposing a ban on rice exports of all kinds, which has been renewed annually, particularly as concerns over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam grew. In 2018, the government restricted rice farming, limiting cultivation to designated plots — the majority of which are highly saline — based on an annually renewed decree. Farmers caught planting rice beyond these plots faced fines and penalties up to imprisonment. Egypt's allocated rice farming areas — spanning over one million feddans — produce around four million tons of white rice annually, exceeding domestic demand, which stands at 3.6 million tons. Yet farmers continue to expand cultivation beyond imposed limits, drawn by rice's high profitability compared to costs, its guaranteed market, as well as concerns over soil salinity, as rice irrigation helps reduce salt levels in soil. This has led to a surplus of up to one million tons annually, according to official estimates, plus the 130,000 tons of Basmati rice imports each year. In July 2024, just a month before the August harvest season, reports began circulating among farmers and traders that rice exports would be permitted. While some dismissed the claims, others confirmed that exports had been allowed, prompting traders to rush to stockpile rice from the market. Some hinted at exemptions granted to select traders, while others described what was happening as 'organized smuggling' on a scale 'larger than all previous years.' The issue reached parliament when Nation's Future Party MP Mohamed Abdallah Zein Eddin formally questioned the government that same month about reports of rice exports benefiting 'certain companies,' warning of the potential impact on domestic prices. At the time, Mada Masr reached out to leading rice traders, who denied that exports were officially permitted. They said that rice leaving the country did so through two main channels: smuggling operations and humanitarian aid officially exported by the state. The latter was exempt from the export ban, they said, and was either donated or sold to international relief organizations for redistribution. However, a single industry source told Mada Masr that one company received an exemption allowing it to export rice for commercial purposes, beyond the bounds of humanitarian aid. The source attributed the company's selection to its ties with what they described as 'sovereign entities.' After a period of quiet, the rice export controversy resurfaced in January when the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) published official data. Mada Masr reviewed the figures, which showed that the value of rice exports surged to US$9 million in the first ten months of the previous year — a leap of 3,808 percent compared to the same period in 2023. In October alone, the spike exceeded 4,527 percent. Despite the Egyptian Customs Authority's insistence that the export ban remains in effect, six sources in the rice trade sector tell Mada Masr that the state allowed certain companies to export rice. At the forefront was Sons of Sinai, followed by smaller allocations to the Egyptian-Sudanese Company for Development and Multiple Investments, founded in 2021 and jointly owned by Egypt's Holding Company for Food Industries, the National Service Projects Organization and Sudan's Etegahat Group affiliated with the Sudanese military-owned Defense Industries System. 'Any trader who wants to export goes to Sons of Sinai, pays them US$150 per ton, gets a permit, signs over the shipment, collects their payment and the company exports under its own name,' says a rice trader speaking on condition of anonymity. But weeks before Sons of Sinai 'proudly' announced it exports rice, several sources, particularly those in official positions, insisted that exports were strictly limited to humanitarian aid for countries like Libya, Palestine, Sudan and Syria. MP Magdy al-Waleely, a member of the Federation of Egyptian Industries' (FEI) Grains Chamber, told Mada Masr that exports were restricted to 'specific entities' granted special permits, often with links to official institutions such as the Defense Ministry, which he said made the issue 'non-negotiable.' However, after Sons of Sinai's post, Waleely revised his stance, saying that the state had initially granted the Argany-owned company a permit to export rice to Gaza due to wartime circumstances. 'Then it expanded to Syria, Jordan, Iraq and other countries facing political issues. Later, it extended to regular trade with countries like Turkey and Morocco,' he said. The decision to export rice despite Egypt's severe economic crisis and acute water shortages, particularly to countries that do not appear in need of aid, was attributed by some sources to political and strategic considerations. Among these was Ragab Shehata, the head of the FEI's Rice Division, who told Mada Masr that the exports carry political dimensions tied to Egypt's foreign relations, within the framework of regional policies aimed at strengthening political influence and security cooperation, particularly given Egypt's rice surplus. Shehata said that escalating political crises in the region led the government to reassess its export policies, whether for humanitarian purposes or diplomatic gains, while firmly denying the exports were for commercial purposes. When Mada Masr reached out again to Shehata days after Sons of Sinai's post, he said: 'Maybe some stupid employee posted that. I'll call them and tell them to take it down. If this spreads, it'll only cause trouble and drive prices up.' He also advised our reporters to 'not to ask about things that might upset you if you knew the answer. Even if they posted it, it's best to turn a blind eye.' A major rice trader exporting through Sons of Sinai tells Mada Masr that the company has been allowed to export for months as a reward for Argany's role in Sinai, albeit unannounced. However, the source criticized the company's public declaration as 'provocative.' 'They were specifically granted this exemption under special circumstances. We live in a state governed by law and a Constitution that guarantees equality — you can't grant privileges to some while excluding others. They are publicly saying that the state gave him special treatment, and that will create problems,' the trader said. Beyond these semi-official exports, Egyptian rice continues to leave the country through smuggling, a practice that has surged since the export ban was imposed in 2016. Smuggling occurs either via informal border routes or through ports under the guise of other grains permitted for export, according to three sources speaking to Mada Masr — a grain trader, an Agriculture Ministry official and a prominent farmer in the Delta. The smuggled shipments have been particularly noticeable in Gulf markets, where demand for Egyptian rice has surged. 'Before the ban, we exported around one million tons of Egyptian rice to 64 countries,' the Agriculture Ministry official says. 'It's a unique variety with no equivalent except a very expensive American type, which is why smuggling increased. Plus, some shipments leave informally with state approval,' they added, declining to provide further details. *** The two rice traders, who exported through Sons of Sinai last year and this year, tell Mada Masr that the government initially allowed the company to export 100,000 tons in mid-2024. This was raised to 250,000 tons this year after it became clear that rice surplus increased due to cultivation beyond the designated areas, meaning that these exports would not impact prices or availability in the local market, one of the traders says. While the government saw this surplus as an opportunity for exports, the Supply Ministry removed rice from ration cards in August 2023. Former Supply Minister Ali Meselhy justified the decision by stating, 'The subsidy per person is LE50, which is not enough to buy rice — only oil and sugar. Should we just send rice over to [food subsidy outlets] and have it go to waste?' The fact that a non-governmental entity was granted the profits from surplus rice exports, at least officially, comes at the expense of the 61 million Egyptians reliant on food subsidies. For nearly two years, they have had to purchase rice from the open market at up to LE35 per kilo instead of LE12.5, after it had been scrapped from ration cards. It also comes at the expense of farmers, who were forced to sell their rice at low prices due to pressure from major traders looking to maximize their profits from exports, which reached up to $750 per ton. 'A large number of farmers, especially those with small plots, sold their crops early in the season to traders or mills for LE14,000 per ton because they lacked storage space,' another prominent Delta farmer said. 'Now, the price has risen to LE18,000 per ton due to increased market demand. Meanwhile, traders who bought rice early and stockpiled it are now trying to maximize their gains by raising prices after learning about the exports.' Moreover, rice exports encourage the arbitrary expansion of rice cultivation, which depletes Egypt's already limited natural resources in Egypt, such as water. The country's per capita water share has already fallen to 500 cubic meters annually in 2024, the threshold the United Nations defines as 'absolute scarcity.' Most rice fields rely on flood irrigation, which consumes massive amounts of water. This reduces supply available to crops in neighboring fields, disrupts water distribution through irrigation canal networks and prevents adequate water from reaching many lands, as the water resources and irrigation minister said last year. For over a decade, farmers have voiced complaints about hundreds of feddans drying up due to water shortages, which have led to recurring crop damage, and hence, annual financial losses. MP Mohamed Abdallah Zein Eddin tells Mada Masr that he has yet to receive a response to his parliamentary inquiry on rice exports, submitted last July. 'If Egypt issues export permits to Sudan or Gaza as aid, that's fine. But the exports come from Egyptian companies selling to foreign companies and countries like Turkey — does Turkey need aid? If the decision is meant to serve the state's political interests, then no one can object, but it's important for us to know,' he explains. 'Some people advised me not to speak up, telling me not to dig into the matter,' he adds. Mada Masr reached out to the ministries of investment and foreign trade and supply, as well as the Egyptian Customs Authority, but received no response as of the time of publication.
Mada
10-02-2025
- Business
- Mada
Govt raises private sector minimum wage, preserves exemptions for businesses
The National Wages Council (NWC) announced on Sunday evening a 17 percent raise in the minimum wage for private sector workers, bringing the official monthly minimum up from LE6,000 to LE7,000. A national minimum wage was set for the first time in 2022, but the government has provided exemptions to thousands of companies that have claimed their financial position makes it impossible to pay workers according to the legal threshold, while a majority of enterprises nationwide are excluded on the grounds they hire fewer than 10 staff. The new increase is set to take effect from March and includes an annual bonus of three percent of the insured wage, or a minimum rate of LE250, according to an NWC member who spoke to Mada Masr on condition of anonymity. Employers will be required to pay social insurance contributions on top of the LE7,000 minimum, the council member said, unlike the April 2024 decision that raised the private sector minimum wage to LE6,000, including employers' social insurance contributions, which meant workers took home less than LE6,000 per month. The LE7,000 threshold is to include in-kind benefits, such as transportation, as was the case in the previous wage hike. The Planning Ministry also noted that, for the first time, the council has set a minimum wage for hourly work at LE28 per hour. The decision was reached largely by consensus, the wage council member told Mada Masr, though some business representatives from the Federation of Chambers of Commerce had pushed for a smaller increase. Employers still have the option to apply for exemptions in cases of financial hardship. Under the new decision, however, exemption requests will no longer be submitted to the NWC, but to the relevant employers' federation. The previous decision, which took effect last May, allowed employers to seek hardship exemptions while maintaining past policies that counted all wage components — such as commissions, bonuses, allowances, profit shares and in-kind benefits — toward the minimum wage. It also applied only to businesses with more than ten employees, effectively excluding 98.9 percent of economic establishments, as Mada Masr previously reported. According to a report by the Center for Trade Union and Workers Services, when the minimum wage was first set at LE2,400 in 2022, 3,090 companies across 30 sectors were granted exemptions. These included ready-made garments and textiles — especially export-oriented firms — as well as in tourism, paper manufacturing, retail industries, some private schools, securities companies and some retail stores. Sunday's decision marks the first time the private sector minimum wage has been raised ahead of its public sector counterpart. Another NWC source told Mada Masr on Saturday that the government is expected to announce a similar decision within days.
Mada
28-01-2025
- Business
- Mada
Court opposes release of arrested workers as labor action concludes at clothing supplier for Levis, UNIQLO, Tommy Hilfiger
The Administrative Prosecution opposed on Tuesday court release orders for nine workers who were arrested after participating in a strike at the Cairo factories of a clothing manufacturer supplying global brands including Levis, Tommy Hilfiger and UNIQLO, according to a lawyer who spoke to Mada Masr. After a court north of Cairo ruled that the workers should be released on bail in the morning, the prosecution later blocked the release with an appeal to prolong their detention pending further investigation. The workers will stay in detention facilities until Wednesday morning, when the court will review the prosecution's appeal, according to Mahmoud Magdy, a lawyer at the Center for Trade Union and Workers' Services. The T&C Garments strike also ended on Tuesday, three of the workers who had participated said to Mada Masr on condition of anonymity. The workers did not comment on whether management responded to the strike demands nor did the company's managers provide a public statement regarding their response to the strike. Around 6,000 employees at T&C Garments' Obour City complex to Cairo's east began strike action on January 16, organizing sit-ins at the companies' facilities to demand that management increase their bonuses, commissions and meal allowances, as workers currently take home less than minimum wage per month despite a sharp increase in the cost of living. Following several days during which workers attended daily shifts at the company to gather and hold protest action, the company halted the daily transport it normally provides for staff to reach the industrial zone where its facility is located. Security forces later arrested the nine workers from their homes on Saturday, after the company's lawyer filed a complaint against them due to their participation in the strike and demanded an increase in the annual bonus. The workers were detained under Case 264/2025 of the First Circuit Obour Administrative Prosecution for investigation on charges of 'inciting unrest and sedition, striking, encouraging other workers to strike and harming the company's interests,' according to Magdy. Magdy told Mada Masr that the Obour prosecution initially issued orders for the workers to be held in detention for several more days pending further investigation, until they were ordered released on LE2,000 bail each on Tuesday at the Khanka Misdemeanor Court. The releases were later blocked by the administrative prosecution's appeal against the court decision. Two other workers named in the summons order for the same case are yet to be questioned in relation to the charges, the lawyer said. The thousands of T&C factory workers launched their strike on January 16, demanding a 50 percent increase in their annual bonus to cope with rising living costs, a raise in meal allowances from LE600 to LE1,200, an enforcement of the minimum wage and permission for discretionary leave and paid public holidays. While management made no public announcement regarding the strike's conclusion, one worker told Mada Masr that a supervisor informed them to expect an increase in their bonus. The company's executive director had offered the laborers a 17 percent increase to bonuses on Sunday, which was rejected by workers at the time who held firm to their demand for a 50 percent increase. Workers at the company currently take home between LE4,000 and LE5,000 per month, substantially below the minimum wage for the private sector, which is set at LE6,000. The worker speaking on Tuesday said that the raise they expect is not the company's offer of 17 percent. 'I'll find out the rate from my manager,' they said. They were also demanding that the company improve its on-site health clinic, which is poorly equipped and offers little more than painkillers, they say. Workers who fall ill or are injured on the job must seek treatment outside the company at their own expense, and if they have to take leave for health reasons, they are only paid a quarter of their daily wage, workers told Mada Masr last week. The strike further called for the dismissal of HR manager Mohamed Abdel Rahman for insulting workers. T&C Garments, a partnership between Egypt's Tolba Group and Turkey's Tay Group, manufactures ready-made clothing for well-known brands, including Levis, UNIQLO and Tommy Hilfiger. The factory operates under the Qualified Industrial Zones (QIZ) agreement between Egypt, Israel and the United States, which stipulates that Egyptian products must include a 10.5 percent Israeli component to enter the US import market. T&C currently exports 70 percent of its production to the US and the rest to Europe.
