Hundreds of workers of public sector Egyptian pharmaceutical company Chemical Industries Development (CID) staged a strike Saturday and cut off one of Greater Cairo's main thoroughfares, Al-Haram Street in Giza, stalling traffic in an escalation attempt with security forces currently not intervening.
Workers are protesting poor working conditions, delays in the disbursement of their financial dues, claims of management corruption and reduced wages.
"Our monthly salaries start from LE230 pounds per month; this is becoming unbearable we are unable to sustain our families," Alaa Abd El-Fatah, a protesting worker at CID, told Ahram Online.
Demands include a raise of the company's minimum wage to LE1200, and the sacking of company officials that have been involved in financial discrepancies, according to protesting workers.
"Following almost two years of legal disputes and countless complaints to the prosecutor general about financial corruption within the management, we are in desperate need of attention. Cutting off the road is the only solution," said Ali Abd El-Tawab, a member of the workers independent syndicate at CID.
Last week, workers of the Eastern Tobacco Company also stalled traffic on Al-Haram Street to protest what they said was a meagre bonus payment.
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