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At last and after more than one year, the workers of Ura Misr (Aura Egypt Company for Asbestos Products) succeeded to realize the biggest part of their wasted rights and to conclude an agreement with Mr. Ahmed Abdel Azeem Lukmah the owner of the Company.
An agreement was duly signed by the owner of the company and its legal advisor on one hand and the Egyptian Trade Union Federation and the General Trade Union for Engineering, Metallurgical and Electrical Industries Workers on the other hand. The Minister of Investment signed the agreement as a witness. The employer responded to the workers' demand to get compensated by two-month salary for each year of service in his company. He agreed to pay 50% of this amount while the government pays the remaining 50%. According to the agreement, the employer agreed as well to pay the salaries in arrears due to the workers for the previous period. Against such a response, the workers agreed to waiver the lawsuits they filed against the company and undertook that they will not call for any other indemnity from the employer.
The Ura Misr workers succeeded to open the asbestos file, thanks to their movement and struggle, which started when they realized the hazardous nature of this material. Their joint struggle together with the Center for Trade Union and Workers Services achieved success last December when the Minister of Foreign Trade and Industry issued a decision that prohibited importing all types of asbestos materials, which are no longer allowed to enter Egypt.
The workers’ struggle succeeded to gain support from a large number of activists and defenders of social and economic rights. Last May, a letter was sent by John Monks, ETUC general secretary, to the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to support the workers’ demand.
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