Workers at Misr El Amria keep striking over paycheck deductions

Hundreds of workers in the garment and finishing divisions at Misr El Amria Spinning & Weaving Co. in Alexandria continue a strike they began last Thursday after what they say was a sudden increase in deductions from their wages. Two workers who spoke to Al Manassa on Sunday said the higher withholdings triggered the walkout.

One worker said employees were surprised when they received their February pay slip to see income tax deductions rise by 100 to 200 Egyptian pounds ($2.13 to $4.26). Social insurance deductions also increased by 200 to 300 pounds compared with the previous month.

The worker, who asked not to be named, said management told employees the extra deductions were taxes owed on the “Ramadan bonus” paid last month, further angering workers.

The strike is the latest in a string of disputes at the company. It comes a day after management backtracked under worker pressure on a decision requiring workers in the finishing division to take Thursdays off, deducted from their regular leave balances.

A female worker said the company is still grappling with administrative and structural problems that she linked to its former management. She cited consultants paid hundreds of thousands of pounds a month and wage discrimination between employees doing the same work in different divisions. Some administrative staff earn double what colleagues are paid for the same tasks, she said.

The company saw broad protests last October, when about 300 female workers filed complaints with Alexandria’s labor office demanding retroactive overtime pay based on full, not basic, wages and that the minimum wage be applied correctly. The complaints were later referred to court.

Misr El Misr El Amria workers staged a 16-day strike last year to protest what they described as “shortchanging workers on the minimum wage.” That strike led to the resignation of the former chief executive and a formal letter from Alexandria’s labor directorate calling on the company to correct violations in calculating overtime and minimum wage in line with the law.