Approximately 300 workers from the spinning and weaving company Amonsito have threatened to go on a hunger strike if their problems with Syrian investor Adel Agha are not solved.
After performing the Friday prayer in front of the Shura Council on the fifth day of their sit-in, the protesters said they would bring their families to join them in the hunger strike.
During the prayers, the protesters prayed for President Hosni Mubarak and implored God to save them from their oppression.
As a result of sleeping in the street in varying weather conditions, 23 workers have so far been transported to the hospital suffering from fatigue.
The workers said not a single official has contacted them to discuss their complaints. They are calling for the factory to be reopened and for their salaries to be paid.
Due to this lack of a response, the workers are pushing to have their families join the protest. Since most of them do not have the money to cover household expenses, they will not return home until their demands have been met, workers said.
Amonsito, which has around 1200 workers, is owned by Adel Agha, a Syrian investor who fled the country more than a year and a half ago after he received a three-year prison sentence with hard labor for failing to repay debts to both Misr and Cairo Bank. The attorney general froze Amonsito’s assets held in Misr Bank and used the money to pay workers’ salaries. The Ministry of Manpower and Migration handled salary payments for the following nine months.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.