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At last and after more than one year, the workers of Aura Egypt Company for Asbestos Products succeeded to realize the biggest part of their wasted rights and to conclude an agreement with Mr. Ahmed Abdel Azeem Lukmah the owner of the Company.
Aura Egypt started last Tuesday 16/8/2005 an open sit-down strike at the premises of the Egyptian Trade Union Federation and announced their determination to continue the strike until their legal demands are fulfilled. They announced the strike in order to get their wages for the period from September 2004 to date, to get the proper compensation for their service in the Company as equivalent to 2 months salary for each year of service according to the law, to get the proper medical examination through a neutral body in order to determine whether they contracted diseases related to the asbestos industry, and to guarantee their right to obtain fair compensations.
The open sit-down strike, which lasted for one complete week succeeded to gain support from a large number of activists and defenders of social and economic rights. It also gained the societal support that transcended the borders of labour circles. This support was very effective in the response to the workers demands, particularly that the sit-down strike synchronized the presidential election campaigns, which have their reflection on all the aspects of life in Egypt.
Aura Egypt workers launched a bitter struggle in defence of their right to live a clean life free from asbestos and from the fatal asbestos dust. They succeeded to open the asbestos file, thanks to their movement and struggle, which started when they realized the hazardous nature of this material. Their joint struggle together with the Center for Trade Union and Workers Services achieved success last December. The Minister of Foreign Trade and Industry issued a decision that prohibited importing all types of asbestos materials, which are no longer allowed to enter Egypt whatever the cause of importation might be. (The decision excluded the deals already shipped to Egypt or for which letters of credit were opened with the approval of the Ministry). The Decision prohibited as well the manufacture or production of any material containing asbestos (other than the projects that already obtained a prior approval to import their requirements until the imported quantities are consumed, provided this process takes place under the supervision of the Industrial Control Authority).
But Aura Egypt workers who were the motive behind the issuance of this decree were forced to pay the price from their sustenance and the sustenance of their families. Mr. Ahmed Lukmah the owner of the company stopped to pay their salaries as from September 2004. Then he issued successive decisions to terminate the service of seventy workers. After many years of service during which their lungs were filled with asbestos dust, they became jobless and deprived from any resources to sustain their children.
Aura Egypt workers tried by all possible legal means to resist the illegal decisions taken against them by the owner of the company. They submitted their complaints to the Labour Office concerning the cessation of their wages for the months of September, October, November and December 2004. The court had decided to fine the company owner for this action. The workers also submitted their complaints to the Five-Member Committee calling for the cancellation of their dismissal decisions and compensating them for these decisions. But they were faced by the procrastination of the administrative departments (the Labour Office of the Ministry of Manpower) on one hand and the slow litigation procedures on the other hand (as the Five-Member Committee takes months to convene because its members cannot be easily present at the same time). This is in addition to other factors that added to the misery of these workers who are suffering from chest and lung diseases and cannot find a secure source to earn their living.
Governmental and its administrative bodies refrained from performing their duties and obligations towards these workers whose conditions reached a disastrous stage on the 20th of last June. That was the expiry date of the six-month during which they were paid their wages from the Workers Emergency Fund according to a decision form the Ministry of Manpower. Assistance stopped since that date under the claim that it is the maximum period stipulated by law for getting the compensation. The administrative bodies, at the same time, refrained from giving them any assistance to meet even the minimum level of their needs. The workers had no choice but to start a sitting-down strike at the premises of the Egyptian Trade Union Federation on July 1st calling for a solution for their problem. It was only then that the General Trade Union for Engineering, Metallurgical and Electrical Industries Workers decided to give every worker the amount of One Hundred Egyptian Pounds and promised to negotiate with the owner of the company and the concerned authorities. They waited for forty-six days but the General Trade Union did not fulfill its obligation. Once again, it turned its back to them.
Aura Egypt workers had no alternative but to renew their sit-down strike at the premises of the Egyptian Trade Union Federation. Their strike, which coincided this time with campaigning for the presidential election was effective. The President of the Republic issued his directives to solve this problem. This gave a sudden new life to all the various governmental bodies. They started pressure on the owner of the company Mr. Ahmed Lukmah to reach a satisfactory agreement.
An agreement was duly signed by the owner of the company and its legal advisor on one hand and the Egyptian Trade Union Federation and the General Trade Union for Engineering, Metallurgical and Electrical Industries Workers on the other hand. The Minister of Investment signed the agreement as a witness. The employer responded to the workers' demand to get compensated by two-month salary for each year of service in his company. He agreed to pay 50% of this amount while the government pays the remaining 50%. According to the agreement, the employer agreed as well to pay the salaries in arrears due to the workers for the previous period. Against such a response, the workers agreed to waiver the lawsuits they filed against the company and undertook that they will not call for any other indemnity from the employer.
This was the end of the Aura Egypt workers problem. But there remains another part. It is the their demand to be examined by a medical committee to decided whether or not they have contracted diseases related to this industry. According to the Egyptian law, the National Organization for Social Insurances will have to indemnify them for any disabilities they may have sustained.
The Center for Trade Union and Workers Services (CTUWS) considers the success achieved by Aura Egypt workers a trophy of its successful campaign to ban asbestos products in Egypt and to preserve the rights of the workers of this industry. At the same time, CTUWS would like to express its gratitude for all the organizations and the bodies that participated in its campaign. Their solidarity and support were fundamental to this realized success.
The Center for Trade Union and Workers Services (CTUWS)
Cairo, Wednesday 24/8/2005
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