Suez — Workers at Ain Sokhna seaport in Suez have entered their sixth day of a strike, as shipping and exports press the owner company, DP World, to reach a deal with the striking employees.
Activities at the port have stalled as striking workers insist that the company reinstate eight colleagues whom, they, say, had been fired arbitrarily. The company had accused the protesters of costing it LE40 million in five days, mostly resulting from fines by shipping companies.
Ain Sokhna, near the southern end of the Suez Canal, is Cairo's main port for cargo from East Asia.
The crisis escalated as DP World declined to disburse allowances for staff union representatives for extra union activities.
Mahmoud Hashem, a director at an export company, said his company had pleaded for intervention by the government to end the crisis which, he said, caused foreign importers to levy fines on the Egyptian exporters.
“Besides delay fines, we are currently forced to store the containers outside the port as lorries failed to have access due to the strike."
On Saturday, DP World in Dubai said in a statement, "Labour issues have caused a significant slowdown in operations, impacting both customers and the Egyptian economy. We are working to resolve the issues appropriately as soon as possible."
DP World is the third largest port operator in the world.
