10th of Ramadan Textile Workers Self-Manage Factory
Dan Clore
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo
http://libcom.org/news/10th-ramadan-textile-workers-self-manage-factory-30082009
10th of Ramadan textile workers self-manage factory
Submitted by Khawaga on Aug 30 2009
When their owner fled the country ahead of a jail sentence, the
employees at the Economic Company for Industrial Development, faced
looming unemployment and the closure of the company's multiple textile
factories. A common enough story in Egypt these days, but in this case,
the workers instead embarked on a landmark labor experiment.
For nearly a year, three of the Economic Company�s textile factories in
10th of Ramadan City have essentially been running themselves. Granted
the right to self-management by a September 2008 court decision, the
workers are paying their own wages, handling customer orders and trying
to clean up the financial mess left by the previous owner.
�Working here nowadays is sweet like honey," said Mohamed Youssef, a
12-year veteran of the company�s textile embroidery production line. �We
have more rights and benefits as workers."
Youssef�s salary has jumped from LE 450 two years ago to LE 650 per
month under the new system.
The arrangement has its difficulties, and the company may yet collapse
under a massive burden of tax and utility bills, but for now it stands
as a closely watched experiment for a country roiled by labor unrest.
The story began when Adel Agha, owner of the Ahmoseto Company, was
sentenced to three years in prison in 2002 for bribery and evasion of
customs taxes. Shortly after his release, Agha was caught up in another
legal battle over bank loans, and fled the country in 2008 before being
sentenced to 15 years in absentia.
Agha sought to liquidate his companies, which employed 5,000 workers,
while the banks moved to sequester many of his assets. The Economic
Company for Industrial Development, a subsidiary of Ahmoseto, controlled
nine textile factories with more than 2,000 workers. Faced with
unemployment, the workers petitioned for the right to run the factories
themselves.
On September 5, 2008 a court granted the workers� request. It was only
the second time in modern Egyptian history such an experiment had been
tried. Previously, a lantern factory in the 10th of Ramadan industrial
zone was granted self-management after its owner, wealthy businessman
and former MP Rami Lakah, fled the country in 2001.
The workers at a Lakah-owned light bulb factory managed themselves from
2001 to 2006, when Lakah�s company again assumed ownership.
Over the past year of self-management, the employees at the Economic
Company for Industrial Development have established their own local
union committee and raised worker wages by nearly 50 per cent, said
Ibrahim Othman, treasurer of the newly established local union
committee. The new management was forced to close six out of the
company�s nine factories, costing 1,500 jobs. However, the other three
factories continue to function, keeping more than 500 workers employed.
The newfound freedom and increased wages also come with their share of
headaches.
�On the downside, however, we now have to chase after our customers and
clients. We produce according to the orders we receive from each
customer. Piecework is an unstable and unreliable source of income,"
said Othman. �Agha�s outlets, stores and showrooms, where our products
were sold, have all shut down. Previously we exported to America and
Australia, now it is our clients who export our products."
In addition, the company now has to pay millions of pounds worth of
insurance fees and utility bills, plus the tens of millions of pounds
worth of debt that Agha incurred from bank loans and accumulated
interest. �If these huge debts were resolved then our wages and living
standards would be greatly improved," said Othman.
Youssef, the veteran employee said, �Our only problems are that the
banks and utility companies are always after us with their bills and
fees. They have the power to pull the plug on this whole company. Our
fate rests in their hands."
At the top of the company�s new hierarchy is the caretaker commissioner
Ibrahim el-Hefny, who was originally appointed by Agha in 2006 as the
company�s administrative president.
�The Ahmoseto Company has all the components necessary to operate in
full capacity, to produce high quality goods and to be a successful
company," el-Hefny told Al-Masry Al-Youm. �However, textile production
is an extremely capital-intensive industry and we simply don�t have the
capital to do so. This is why six out of the nine factories have shut down."
The Ministry of Manpower has paid the wages of the 1,500 workers who
lost their jobs for the past seven months. However, that money, paid out
of a special emergency fund, runs out this month, el-Hefny said.
Banks owed money by Agha have seized LE 52 million worth of fabric and
garments belonging to Ahmoseto. The company�s new management has
requested a LE 5 million loan to enable them to reopen the six closed
factories and an unfreezing of their assets.
�We have received no form of assistance from the banks or from the
General Union for Textile Workers. Only the Ministry of Manpower has
stood by our side," el-Hefny said.
The General Union President, Saeed el-Gohary, could not be reached for
comment.
Hefny said the future of both the Ahmoseto Company and the Economic
Company for Industrial Development are to be determined by the decisions
of the banks and utility companies. �They might decide to tear down this
entire industrial complex and to sell the machinery as well as the land
on which these factories are built. But this would be such a grave loss
of capital and employment opportunities," he said. �I have recently
signed checks worth LE 1.8 million for utility bills. If the Economic
Company cannot cover these expenses then I may end up in prison."
by Jano Charbel (Al-Masry Al-Youm)
--
Dan Clore
My collected fiction: _The Unspeakable and Others_
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"From the point of view of the defense of our society,
there only exists one danger -- that workers succeed in
speaking to each other about their condition and their
aspirations _without intermediaries_."
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the Last Chance to Save Capitalism in Italy_