Workers at Misr El Amria Spinning & Weaving Co. in Alexandria have entered their 12th day of a strike, accusing management of manipulating Egypt’s minimum wage regulations and demanding the removal of the company’s Chief Executive Ahmed Amr Ragab and his advisers.
In response, National Security in Alexandria summoned five employees for questioning, according to what some workers shared with Al Manassa.
The strike began on July 30 after repeated calls to apply the mandated 7,000-pound ($145) minimum monthly wage without deductions were ignored. Workers said that the company added a “minimum wage supplement” line to pay slips, adjusting the amount to offset other raises and leaving net pay unchanged.
Amid ongoing economic challenges and persistent worker demands for better pay, Egypt's private sector minimum wage has been set at 7,000 pounds since March 1, 2025. The National Council of Wages also established a minimum hourly wage of 28 pounds for part-time employees and a periodic annual raise of at least 3% of a worker's social insurance wage, is the latest in a series of increases aimed at providing financial relief. The move follows a significant jump from 3,500 pounds to 6,000 pounds in April 2024, and marks the sixth increase since 2022 as the government attempts to address the rising cost of living.
One worker, speaking anonymously, said his salary rose from 4,000 pounds to 5,500 pounds ($83 to $114) after new line item on their pay slips was introduced, but subsequent bonuses saw the minimum wage supplement reduced, keeping his take-home pay flat. “Every time they give us a bonus, they cut the supplement,” he said.
The worker noted that since last March, management had violated minimum wage regulations by counting Saturday overtime pay as part of the minimum wage. After workers expressed widespread anger, the company reverted this practice for the month of July.
“After their manipulation was exposed, they tried to fool us,” the worker said, “by giving us the overtime outside the minimum wage after months of scamming us.”
A second worker told Al Manassa that the company chairman’s intransigence was the cause of the strike, having consistently rejected repeated demands for salary adjustments and a proper implementation of the minimum wage that respected job grade differences.
The worker disclosed that company managers—specifically Mahmoud Al-Awady, the head of legal affairs—have subjected them to pressure and threats of dismissal and imprisonment since the strike began. They added that Alexandria’s National Security Investigations summoned five workers for questioning over the strike, one day before the Senate elections began.
During the questioning, a National Security officer reportedly tried to pressure them to end the strike by promising a 15% raise in 2026. The workers rejected the offer and continued their strike the following day.
A female employee with 38 years at the company provided a stark illustration of why, stating that her monthly pay remains below 5,800 pounds ($120). “After building this company with our sweat,” she said, “we can’t even afford basic living expenses.”
Workers say that executive salaries far exceed theirs, citing pay of 50,000 to 100,000 pounds ($1,038 to $2,076) for top managers.
A worker told Al Manassa that when confronted about the disparity, the CEO defended the high salaries, saying, “they’re not taking anything out of your pockets; I’m free to do what I want.”
The worker challenged this claim, questioning what kind of work could justify such high salaries, asking, “When the CEO says they’re not taking from the workers’ pockets, can he tell us where his own salary comes from if not from our sweat and hard work?”
Other grievances include forcing staff near retirement to take long unpaid leaves or relinquish unused vacation days, and 5 million pounds ($104,000) in unpaid insurance contributions affecting access to healthcare.
The company, owned entirely by Banque Misr, operates multiple textile, garment, bleaching, dyeing and printing factories. It has seen repeated strikes since 2013 over wages and working conditions.
This strike is not an isolated incident; it's part of a broader wave of industrial action across Egypt since the national minimum wage was raised to 7,000 ponuds in March.
Workers in various sectors, from textiles to sanitation, have staged similar protests, accusing employers of either refusing to implement the new wage or using creative accounting to offset the pay raise, leaving their take-home pay unchanged.
