The closure of Al-Omaraa Ceramic Company in 10th of Ramadan City, home to the La Beauté and Majestic factories, has entered its third week after the gas supply was cut due to mounting debts. The company’s 3,000 workers have yet to receive their salaries for May, a delay they described as a deprivation of their rights and an evasion of responsibility.
On May 22, the gas company fully suspended supplies to the Ceramica La Beauté and Porcelain Majestic factories, subsidiaries of Al Omaraa Group. A source close to the management previously told Al Manassa the company owes more than 100 million Egyptian pounds (approx. $2 million) in unpaid dues, in addition to significant debts to the electricity and water companies. That same day, management informed workers that operations would cease until the gas supply resumes and instructed them to remain at home.
In interviews with Al Manassa, workers appealed to the government to step in and save 3,000 families from destitution. Some suggested the state could take over operations in exchange for the outstanding debts, accusing the company’s owner of evading responsibility and disappearing from the scene.
One worker, speaking on condition of anonymity, said employees had expected to be paid for May before the Eid holiday, especially since they had worked more than three-quarters of the month before the shutdown. “But that didn’t happen,” he said.
“We waited for Eid break to end, but the wages never came. We spent Eid with nothing at home. We borrowed money just to buy two kilos of meat for the kids.”
Another worker said they reached out to several managers to ask when May salaries would be paid and to understand the company’s position. One manager reportedly told them, “We’re in the same boat and haven’t been paid either. But the owner is negotiating with authorities to reschedule the debts, so the company can resume production.”
The worker told Al Manassa, “The manager earning 50,000 or 60,000 pounds says, ‘We’re in the same boat’? No, we’re not. We earn 5,000 pounds, and without it, we can’t survive. He still has savings in his bank account, he can manage for a month or two. But if the owner stopped paying us for May when we actually worked, what will happen for June when we didn’t?”
Employees are preparing to escalate if wages aren’t paid by early next week, a third worker said, accusing the owner of shirking his legal obligations and shifting blame onto the government for cutting the gas. Among the proposed actions is filing complaints with the Ministry of Labor.
Previously, a company source told Al Manassa that management instructed workers to post appeals for help on social media and tag the president, prime minister, petroleum minister, and trade and industry minister. The posts urged urgent intervention to resolve the crisis and reconnect the gas to prevent production collapse, which would harm thousands of families. The source added that the management wanted the campaign to appear worker-led.
Workers at La Beauté and Majestic previously secured a 1,000 pound raise, paid in two installments over the past two months, after a series of protests. The last was in January, when La Beauté workers staged a sit-in demanding pay raises and an end to redundancies.
In February 2018, La Beauté workers held a three-week strike demanding salary adjustments. Authorities arrested several from their homes in an apparent attempt to pressure them to end the action.
