Egypt’s Mahalla workers strike, demand social bonus

Most of the 18,000 workers at Egypt's largest public textile company, the Mahalla Spinning and Weaving Company, are taking part in the third day of a strike to demand their inclusion in this year's social bonus, workers say.

In September, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi issued a decree to pay state employees a social bonus of 10 percent of their basic salaries, starting from July salaries. The decree excludes the six million employees who are subject to the social services law.

The regulations and specifications of the decree were issued by the ministry of finance the same week, excluding public sector workers from the bonus.

"This is the first time that we have been excluded from the social bonus," Faisal Laqousha, worker at the factory, told Ahram Online in a phone interview.

"This bonus is different from the annual 7 percent bonus, but we receive it annually and its rate varies from year to year," he added.

The government cancelled the public sector workers’ entitlement to the social bonus, commissioner-general at the company, Ibrahim Bedair, told Ahram Online. He did not specify when the decision was made.

The spokesperson at the ministry of finance, Ayman El-Qaffas, had no comment to Ahram Online and said that a statement will be issued shortly by the ministry.