Human rights organizations, leftist political parties, and grassroots movements have thrown their weight behind a wave of protests by workers at Egypt’s water and sanitation utility, demanding fair wages, job security, and accountability for corruption.
The protests—ongoing in Cairo, Giza, Sharqiya, Beni Suef, and Minya—were sparked on Nov. 12 by employees of the Cairo Water Company. Demonstrators are calling for overdue bonuses dating back to 2016, a just implementation of the minimum wage scaled by job grade, adjustments to tax discrepancies, and the dismissal of senior executives—chiefly Ali Amasha, deputy head of financial and administrative affairs in Cairo.
In a joint statement, the groups affirmed that the workers’ demands are legitimate rights, already recognized by the state, including the enforcement of the minimum wage, payment of withheld bonuses, and the permanent hiring of precariously employed staff.
They warned of the deepening hardship faced by water utility workers, pointing to the rising cost of living, stagnant wages, and the systematic denial of financial entitlements. “The company has even refused to comply with final court rulings ordering the disbursal of overdue bonuses,” the statement read. “These are rights that should never require legal action to obtain.”
The signatories called on the ministries of housing and labor to audit the company’s wage practices and respond to workers’ demands.
On Saturday, Cairo workers escalated their action, calling on the Administrative Control Authority, a state body tasked with investigating corruption, to probe what they described as “the theft of company funds by senior management.”
Workers in Minya also joined the movement, demanding overdue bonuses and the formal hiring of temporary staff, according to workers on the scene who spoke to Al Manassa.
In video footage reviewed by Al Manassa, Cairo workers chanted, “Administrative Control, our company is being looted,” “Raise your voice, don’t be afraid, the thieves must go,” and “Bonuses, contracts, and allowances now.”
Employees have submitted electronic complaints to the authority, urging an investigation into alleged systemic corruption and embezzlement of both public and employee funds, one worker revealed to Al Manassa.
The current protests are part of a broader trend of labor resistance in the water and sanitation sector. In July, workers at the Alexandria Water Company organized sit-ins and coordinated demonstrations at treatment plants and customer service centers, demanding the retroactive inclusion of bonuses dating to 2016.
Earlier, on March 11, commission-based meter readers and bill collectors in Qalyubia—specifically from the Qanater, Khusus, Shubra El-Kheima, and Banha branches—held synchronized protests demanding full employment contracts and inclusion under the minimum wage law.
Signatories represented a broad coalition of civil society groups and opposition parties expressed solidarity with the workers. They include NGOs like the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, the Center for Trade Union and Workers Services, and others.
Political parties endorsing the statement include the Egyptian Socialist Party, the Popular Socialist Alliance, Bread and Freedom (under formation), Hope Current (under formation), and the Revolutionary Socialists.
