28-01-2025
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.
