Management at the Samanoud Textile and Wabariyat Company in Gharbiya governorate barred six women workers in the garment department from entering the factory on Thursday morning and informed them that they had been suspended.
Garment workers continued their strike, while workers in the weaving department resumed theirs after management pressured some of them to work on Wednesday evening, threatening them with dismissal in an effort to break the strike, three women workers told Al Manassa.
Police intensified their presence outside the factory gates, backed by Central Security vehicles, from 7 am on Thursday. One worker, who asked not to be named, said the six suspended women went to the Samanoud Labor Office to file complaints over the incident, but its employees refused to register them. They then went to the Samanoud Police Department to file an official report documenting what had happened.
Workers at Samanoud Textiles have been on strike since Monday, demanding the restoration of medical and health care services suspended in January because of the company’s accumulated debts to the insurance authority.
Some 600 workers, most of them women and many living with chronic illnesses, have been denied their monthly medication. Some workers need surgery but have been forced to postpone their operations despite their deteriorating health after health insurance facilities refused to treat them and they proved unable to afford private hospitals.
A second worker, who also requested anonymity, said rumors were circulating inside the company that management was preparing a list of 10 other workers to suspend ahead of their dismissal.
She added that management claimed on Thursday morning that the health insurance crisis had been resolved and all services had resumed, but workers remained uncertain because the company had issued no official circular. Several workers planned to visit the health insurance office to verify management’s claim.
“If the crisis is over, as they say, why did you suspend our colleagues?” a third worker, who also requested anonymity, told Al Manassa.
“Why create this climate of terror inside the company, with Central Security vans, officers and soldiers? And why is National Security inside the factory?”
Earlier this year, in April, Samanoud Textiles workers staged a full strike over delays in receiving their March wages and demanded the restoration of health insurance services.
They rejected an offer to end the strike in exchange for 50% of their pay, insisting on full payment and a permanent solution to repeated wage delays and the practice of dividing salaries into installments paid throughout the month.
Before that, in March, women workers in the garment department staged protests, including demonstrations and a partial strike, demanding an end to these conditions. The protests later expanded into a company-wide strike that ended on March 18, after workers received their full February salaries and management promised regular wage payments and the restoration of health insurance services. Neither promise was fulfilled.
The company’s workers have faced repeated violations in recent years. In April 2025, management applied the minimum wage only to administrative employees and department supervisors, sparking anger among other workers.
Although the company later ostensibly extended the minimum wage to all employees, workers said management violated the rules by counting allowances and overtime as part of the minimum.
Moreover, in August 2024, Samanoud Textiles workers began a strike that lasted 35 days to demand the implementation of the minimum wage. They were eventually forced to end it under threats of dismissal and imprisonment.
Authorities arrested 10 workers that same month, including labor leader Hesham El-Banna. Prosecutors accused them of “inciting a strike, unlawful assembly and attempting to overthrow the regime.” They were subsequently released, while El-Banna was later arbitrarily dismissed.
