Women workers in the clothing division at Samanoud Textiles in Gharbiya governorate have continued protests for a third day over delayed wages and the suspension of health insurance services since January, two workers told Al Manassa. They said they stopped work in the division for periods of one to three hours on each of the past three days.
Workers said the presence of National Security officers inside the company has prevented the protests from escalating into a full strike, as employees fear arrest. Anger could spread beyond the clothing division after Eid al-Fitr, driven by unpaid wages, lost medical coverage and plans to extend the working day.
For the past four months, the company has paid salaries in three installments, leaving workers unable to cover basic household expenses, especially during Ramadan. One worker said she received only one-third of her February salary. “When I get 2,000 Egyptian pounds ($38) from my salary and they delay the rest, how are we supposed to pay rent, water, electricity or feed our children?” she said.
More than 600 workers, most of them women, have also been denied medical services for three months. Many suffer from chronic illnesses, including diabetes, high blood pressure and asthma, and have had to pay for medication themselves.
Another worker said restoring medical services is one of the main drivers of the current protests and could become the issue that pushes other departments to join in after Eid Al-Fitr. “People have been exhausted for three months, buying blood pressure and diabetes medicine themselves for 1,000 and 1,500 pounds ($19 and $29) a month. Where are they supposed to get that from?” she said.
She added that workers had also learned the company plans to change the long-standing schedule to eight working hours excluding break time, up from seven, adding to tensions inside the factory.
The Center for Trade Union and Workers Services (CTUWS) said it stood with the workers’ demands and warned against any actions that could block them from receiving their financial dues. It called on the Cabinet and the Ministry of Planning to urgently intervene and examine the company’s financial and administrative conditions.
The Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms said delayed wages and moves to increase working hours amount to a direct violation of workers’ right to pay under labor law, and called on the Ministry of Labor and oversight bodies to open an urgent investigation.
The latest protest follows earlier labor disputes at the company. In April 2025, management applied the minimum wage only to administrative staff and section supervisors, angering workers before it later extended the measure to all employees, though allowances and overtime were counted as part of the minimum wage, according to workers who spoke to Al Manassa at the time.
On Aug. 18 last year, Samanoud Textile workers went on strike for 35 days to demand implementation of the minimum wage, before ending the action under threats of dismissal and imprisonment.
On Aug. 25, 10 workers, including labor leader Hesham El-Banna, were arrested and accused by prosecutors of “inciting a strike, unlawful assembly, and attempting to overthrow the regime.” On Aug. 28, prosecutors ordered their detention for 15 days.
In early September, the Mahalla appellate court ordered the release of seven of them while El-Banna remained in detention. The Tanta Public Prosecution later released him on Sept. 9, two days before a scheduled detention renewal hearing. He was later arbitrarily dismissed by the company’s management.
