Workers at Egyptian Sugar and Integrated Industries Co. (ESIIC) rejected a proposal from the supply minister on Tuesday and vowed to continue protests over pay and job security, workers told Al Manassa.
Supply and Internal Trade Minister Sherif Farouk offered to raise annual profit payments to 45 months from 42, increase the meal allowance to 1,500 Egyptian pounds from 1,000, and boost incentives by 25%, workers said. The package does not meet the workers' demands for meaningful wage increases and contract stability.
Farouk met ESIIC’s board on Tuesday morning at the ministry’s headquarters in the Administrative Capital. The ministry said on Facebook the meeting reviewed preparations for the sugar production season, while union sources told Al Manassa it was convened to discuss the labor protests.
A worker at the Deshna factory in Qena said the offer was relayed by Hamid Ahmed, head of the Deshna sugar sector, after a call with the Holding Company for Food Industries. “We’re not standing here for three extra months of profits or 500 pounds on the meal allowance. We need real wage increases so we can feed our children. What can a 6,000-pound salary (about $120) do after 20 years of service?” the worker said.
Another worker at the Hawamdeya industrial complex south of Cairo said workers there also rejected the offer. “We won’t give up on applying the minimum wage and adjusting wages for real, taking years of service into account, adding the raises, and making temporary workers permanent, including contractless day laborers paid 120 pounds a day,” the worker said.
Many ESIIC workers remain below the official minimum wage of 7,000 pounds (about $140), according to previous statements to Al Manassa.
Protests expand to nine facilities
The protests began on Saturday at multiple ESIIC sites, including the Edfu plant in Aswan governorate and the Deshna and Nagaa Hammadi plants in Qena, workers told Al Manassa. Sit-ins also spread to the equipment, refining, Venus, chemicals, and transport units at the Hawamdeya complex, they said.
On Tuesday, workers at the distillation plant in Hawamdeya joined, extending the protests to nine facilities, according to workers.
At Deshna, workers blocked sugar trucks carrying output for the Ministry of Supply from entering the factory, workers said.
Demands
Workers’ demands include retroactive application of the minimum wage, raising the monthly incentive to 350%, increasing annual profit share to 60 months, raising the meal allowance to 1,800 pounds, and raising the cash allowance to 1,500 pounds. They also want 2017 and 2018 raises added.
They are also demanding permanent contracts for temporary workers, a comprehensive settlement for workers who obtained higher qualifications while employed, and a return to company contributions to family health care costs, covering 50% of examination and treatment costs without a cap.
Another worker, who asked not to be named, said workers were being made to bear the cost of price controls on sugar.
“The Ministry of Supply buys a kilo of sugar from us for 12 pounds while the market price is 30 to 35 pounds. Wages have effectively been frozen since 2014,” the worker said.
ESIIC posted revenue of 44 billion Egyptian pounds in 2025, up from 33 billion pounds in 2024, the company’s CEO Salah Fathy said, adding that revenue was expected to reach 50 billion pounds (around $1 billion) this year.
However, three labor sources at cane sugar factories disputed management claims that the facilities are unprofitable. They said the holding company and its subsidiaries have been required since 2014 to sell output to the Ministry of Supply at fixed prices, eroding real profits despite rising revenues.
Workers say the timing of protests is significant because the sugar production season typically begins in the second half of January.
Rumors of CEO dismissal
Rumors circulated on Tuesday that Farouk had decided to dismiss ESIIC CEO Salah Fathy. Videos reviewed by Al Manassa showed workers celebrating at the Deshna and Edfu factories and at the Hawamdeya complex, before the dismissal reports were later denied.
Several workers told Al Manassa they believe Fathy retaliated against workers for earlier protests and demands for better pay.
In November, colleagues said a Kom Ombo worker attempted suicide after what they described as an arbitrary transfer order to Hawamdeya, issued after the worker questioned delayed wage increases. Co-workers intervened and saved the worker, they said.
Workers also said five others were transferred from the Edfu and Kom Ombo plants to Hawamdeya, and that more than 40 temporary workers at the particleboard plant affiliated with Kom Ombo were dismissed last month after participating in a September strike.
