5 go mad in Egypt - Cheap Carpets
ftp | 11.12.2004 12:08 | Globalisation
A 2.5 hour busride brings takes us out of Cairo, and into the town of Mahala, population 500 000, which doesn't even get a mention in the travel guides. The towns economy is tied up with the textile industry, and the largest factory is that of Kamal Mohamed El Samouli & Sons, who employs thousands of workers. We meet 'Mahmoud', a worker in the factory for 15 years, who now earns a somewhat paltry 250 Egyptian pounds per month - wages start at 180 EPs a month, and less than that for the 15 and 16 year olds who work there.
There are ongoing problems at Samouli's - there have been a series of labour disputes - in which he sacked a worker who refused to operate an extra machine without extra money - and after workers started 10 minute stoppages daily over the problems of unsanitary toilet conditions, Mr. Samouli sacked 16 workers, including the workers candidates for elected positions in the trade union. After a year without employment or money, the workers took Samoulis to court, and the judgement ruled that they should be re-instated in their jobs. To date Samouli has refused to comply with the court ruling, and has been trying to get the workers to agree to be paid off - so its still stalemate.
Also common in the town are small house based workshops where cheap carpets and garments are produced on a small scale - and it is inis unregulated sector where many children are employed. 'Kamal' at 12 is known to our hosts in Mahala - he works a 14 hour day, 6 days a week in one of these sweatshops, knotting carpets. For this he is paid 3 Egyptian Pounds per day - enough to buy 2 or 3 cups of tea.
There are many in Mahala who are keen that the world should be aware of the conditions that they endure, of the precarity of their working conditions, where older workers are liable to be sacked and replaced by pliable cheaper labour - there is no loyalty from the employers who benefit so greatly from long days for shit wages.
And nor is there any loyalty for the employers from the multinationals who subcontract them for their brands - a number of the labels have already left the sweatshops of Mahala to relocate in China........
I believe THEY call it the trickledown effect.............
There are ongoing problems at Samouli's - there have been a series of labour disputes - in which he sacked a worker who refused to operate an extra machine without extra money - and after workers started 10 minute stoppages daily over the problems of unsanitary toilet conditions, Mr. Samouli sacked 16 workers, including the workers candidates for elected positions in the trade union. After a year without employment or money, the workers took Samoulis to court, and the judgement ruled that they should be re-instated in their jobs. To date Samouli has refused to comply with the court ruling, and has been trying to get the workers to agree to be paid off - so its still stalemate.
Also common in the town are small house based workshops where cheap carpets and garments are produced on a small scale - and it is inis unregulated sector where many children are employed. 'Kamal' at 12 is known to our hosts in Mahala - he works a 14 hour day, 6 days a week in one of these sweatshops, knotting carpets. For this he is paid 3 Egyptian Pounds per day - enough to buy 2 or 3 cups of tea.
There are many in Mahala who are keen that the world should be aware of the conditions that they endure, of the precarity of their working conditions, where older workers are liable to be sacked and replaced by pliable cheaper labour - there is no loyalty from the employers who benefit so greatly from long days for shit wages.
And nor is there any loyalty for the employers from the multinationals who subcontract them for their brands - a number of the labels have already left the sweatshops of Mahala to relocate in China........
I believe THEY call it the trickledown effect.............
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