Egypt's Ain Sokhna port workers announced a general strike after the port's operator, Dubai-based DP World, failed to meet demands, despite employees staging a 1200 strong sit-in since Thursday.

According to Hamada Kamal, the head of the Sokhna port's workers syndicate, workers' demands include hardship allowances of at least 30 per cent of their full wages, wage restructuring and a stake in the company's profits for the years 2008, 2009 and 2010.

The workers announced a sit-in on 9 February as they believe the Manpower and Immigration Minister Fathy Fekry breached his promise: "he was supposed to reply the demands by this mentioned date," Kamal commented.

"We are not taking part in [11 Saturday national] civil disobedience, so our general strike will be on Sunday," Kamal told Ahram Online.

He added that if the strike is not effective, the port's employees will ban the foreign operator and nationalise the port's operations.

In September, DP World shut down its Ain Sokhna port in Egypt following previous labour strikes which cost the company about LE30 million ($5.02 million) in lost revenue.

Sokhna, near the southern end of the Suez Canal, is Cairo's main port for cargo from the Far East. The Dubai port operator employs around 1,200 permanent and 4,000 temporary workers. DP World, which is the world's third largest operator, is one of the more profitable assets of debt-laden Dubai World.

https://english.ahram.org.eg/News/34237.aspx