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via Charlie Pottins Dear Friends Happy new struggle year 2005 Last Saturday 25/12/2004 The Ora-Egypt Company’s employer have decided to get rid of 46 workers. These workers who have been fired were striking-in the company demanding for their wages that have been not paid for three months and fair compensations for their occupational diseases. The Trade Union Local Committee’s members have been among these workers. 52 Workers at the Egyptian-Spanish Company for Asbestos products (ORA Misr) in the 10th of Ramadan city in Egypt have started an open sit-in in the company on Saturday the 20th of November 2004, protesting the company which did not pay them their wages for the 4 last months. Workers had been successful in enforcing a decree two months ago involving the closure of the company until all industrial safety measures have been installed while disbursing the wages of the workers, since the administration of the company had insisted to use Asbestos. The 52 workers from The Egyptian Company “Ora-Misr” have been fired on Dec 25 2004 after 20 years work without protection from asbestos dust. They have been carrying, opening, mixing asbestos with cement without masks, gloves, or working clothes, to make water pipes. Starting from 1997, the workers have being discovering that they were suffering from various kinds of occupational diseases (affecting their lungs, throught, stomac, skin, b! ones, eyes, knees etc.). 8 workers out of the 90 workers of the company died as a complication of exposure to asbestos between 1997 and 2002. Many workers dismissed without receiving any compensations. All the remaining 52 workers need treatment and surgery. They could not afford it with their previous full wages. Their wages have been reduced once their sickness prevented them from continuing the hard work they were doing before. Since September 2004, their wages have been cut by the owner, Ahmed Abdel Azim Lokma, who owns also other factories and the GROPPI stores (cf. your Lonely planet...). He refused to cure his workers at the expense of the factory, as writen when the workers were hired. He paid doctors to get reports from the insurances saying that the diseases were not caused by work. The workers had organized a media, legal and protest campaign which succeeded in forwarding their demands to the parliamentary health committee. The committee recommended the closure of all Asbestos companies and demanded that the government ban the import of that substance. However, Lukma, in an act of revenge, refused to pay the workers their wages, upon which they had to file a com! plaint in the police station of the 10th of Ramadan city, as an initial step before going to court. This is not the first time that the labor force directorate issues a decree ordering the closure of Oramisr in view of its flagrant violations which led to cancer secondary to Asbestosis in 46 of its workers. Moreover, Lokma buried asbestos wastes inside the factory, on neighbouring roads, and beside the flower mill of the 10th of Ramadan city! However, every time the owner of the company, Lokma, through his influential relations with senior officials succeeded in reversing the closure, without complying with the conditions of occupational health and safety!! Exposure to Asbestos result in different kinds of lung cancer, gastrointestinal cancer and cancer of the trachea, and that it may lead to lung and pleural fibrosis. The real danger of asbestos is that the resulting cancer might only appear some time after exposure, where it becomes very difficult to treat. Pressures all over the world have succeeded to issue a decree by the seven industrial states in 1979 to stop the use of any product that involves Asbestos. In 1988 the Egyptian Minister of Provisions, Ahmed Geweli, issued a decree that banned the import of Asbestos. Two and a half months later he permitted productive projects to import their needs of Asbestos until they (c)adjust their conditions(c)-, without specifying which conditions they should adjust or the time frame during which they should complete that adjustment. Moreover, no law baned the use of asbestos and even the public company of water distribution asked for water piples including asbestos! The General Trade Union for Engineering Industries refused to disburse urgent funds from the emergency fund for workers, regardless the repeated claims of Oramisr trade union committee. Workers and their families had to face dire shortage of money to cover Ramadan and the feast expenses. The trade union eventually started to pay the legal compensation (75% of basic wage) in late December. The 52 fired workers went to court against their firing. They claim for: 1) disbursing their four months’ wages 2) recognition by the state of their occupational diseases and curing them at the state expense 3) compensations from the owner for their occupational diseases 4) ban imports and manufacturing of asbestos while helping asbestos factories to use alternative products. Support their claims by sending mails, faxes or letters to the following addresses: Ministry of labor: Manpower Mainstay Nasr City-
Egyptian Trade Unions(c)- Federation (ETUF)
General Union for Engineering, Metallic and Electrical Industries(c)- workers
Shura Council e-mail: saic12@idscl.gov.eg Parliament e-mail: parliament@gov.eg An international financial solidarity campaign is also needed, to help the workers deprived from 4 months’ wages, to cover their familial and medical expenses. Interviews of the workers, petitions-postcards, and documents can be provided. As collecting money for political purpose is forbidden by law in Egypt, collected funds must be send to the workers through safe activists(c)- channels. |