Hassan Al-Masry - Cairo
Since early morning, a group of young workers has been heading to a construction site east of Cairo, which is being implemented by the Engineering Authority of the Armed Forces, and with the government's pressure to accelerate the pace of work, workers' suffering is highlighted in light of fears of infection with the Corona virus.
This comes in light of statements issued on various occasions by Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly, regarding the necessity of working in full energy for the contracting sector in contrast to other sectors, and his recent request to "intensify labor in all locations and increase equipment to compensate for the past period" with the support of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.
Despite repeated talk by the people of the authority about observing preventive measures during work, what Al Jazeera Net reporter monitored during a field tour there was on the contrary, the workers are close, sometimes close, and the vast majority of them work without masks.
Mohamed, who is an electrical engineer at a contracting company, says that what is happening in pushing the state towards the return of construction companies to work is a time bomb, where in some locations there are about a thousand workers.
In his speech to Al-Jazeera Net, he points out that contracting companies are afraid of stopping or interrupting work, for fear of the owner of the project, which is often the army or localities, whether the governorate or city council, and at the same time a request for the summit of its workers who do not have any other resource.
In turn, Mohamed Mahmoud, a consultant for occupational safety, says that the idea of working with full energy in construction sites and the accumulation of workers "is only a naive capitalist idea, and that the crisis management as a whole was done wrongly."
Job security
The suffering between workers and employees is not limited to the work environment and occupational safety, but also exceeds that of job security, especially within the private sector companies, many of whom tended to dispense with some workers, despite Sisi’s talk and his demand for businessmen to maintain employment.
Hisham, a security official at a contracting company, says that after working for 17 years, the company terminated his service in mid-March, under the pretext of reducing employment due to the Corona virus.
"I have many obligations. I am married. How will I spend on my family after the surprise decision?" However, "we will not leave our rights and go to court against the company that ended the service of about 150 employees and engineers without notice or error."
In turn, Khaled Abu Bakr, who was working as director of the customer audit department in a private company, says, "I was surprised by the decision to dismiss me without warning, as the company sent a letter stating that the end of March is my last working day in the company, under the pretext of not needing my work and reducing the number of workers The company because of Corona. "
Khaled tweeted, saying that he agreed to resign on the condition of obtaining his financial dues, but the company was intransigent, which prompted him to file a judicial complaint.
Law and government support
The law regulates workers' right to job security and even gives the employee the right to obtain preventive measures that guarantee his health and not be subject to health problems, according to Article No. 12 of 2003 of the Egyptian Labor Law, according to Wael El-Sayed, lawyer of cassation and the Supreme Constitutional.
Speaking to Al-Jazeera Net, Al-Sayed notes that the whole world suffers from losing millions of jobs due to the negative economic effects of the Corona virus, but the biggest impact has been suffered by small-scale professionals and daily workers.
He pointed out that this last category is significantly higher in Egypt due to the increase in poverty rates, which requires a real role and support from the state, which must play its role in protecting workers.
It is noteworthy that the workers of Egypt received a promise from Sisi - beginning of this April - when he demanded the private sector to maintain and not lay off workers, saying, "We will not leave a person who needs help."