Browse Cases

Showing 1-3 of 3 results

Egyptian textile workers strike for bonuses and to protest corruption, 2006

Country
Egypt
Time period
5 December, 2006 to 10 December, 2006
Classification
Change
Cluster
Economic Justice
Total points
9 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Elliana Bisgaard-Church, 06/11/2011

On March 3, 2006, Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmad Nazif announced that all public-sector manufacturing workers would be given an increase in their annual bonuses. The workers of Mahalla al-Kubra’s Misr Spinning and Weaving Company, the country’s largest public sector textile company employing 27,000 people, were overjoyed at the decree. 

Egyptian workers strike and occupy textile factory for better pay, representation, and conditions, 2007

Country
Egypt
Time period
23 September, 2007 to 28 September, 2007
Classification
Change
Cluster
Democracy
Economic Justice
Total points
10 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Elliana Bisgaard-Church, 29/10/2011

Misr Spinning and Weaving Company is the largest public sector Egyptian textile company, employing 27,000 workers in the mid-2000s.  The company is located in the Nile Delta town Mahalla al-Kubra and had a history of workers protests, the most significant of which occurred in December 2006 when about 20,000 of the company’s employees struck (see "Egyptian textile workers strike for bonuses and prrotest corruption, 2006").

Egyptian laborers strike for pay, ~1170 BCE

Country
Egypt
Time period
1170 BCE, -1 to 1170 BCE, -1
Classification
Change
Cluster
Economic Justice
Total points
8 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Kelly Schoolmeester 22/03/2010

The first labor strike in recorded history took place in the 12th Century, BCE, in Egypt. The strike was recorded on papyrus, discovered in Egypt, and though it is damaged and incomplete, it is the only record of the strike in existence. All records of this strike refer to dates with reference to the then-current Pharaoh, Ramses III. During the 29th year of his reign (roughly 1170 BCE), artisans tasked with building the necropolis (burial chambers) of King Ramses III repeatedly struck, apparently complaining of insufficient rations.