The industrial dispute at Ceramica Cleopatra's Suez factory has been settled, said Suez Governor Mohamed Abdel Monem Hashem, who had discussed the matter with the the firm's owner, Mohamed Abul Enein.
Hashem said that he agreed with Abul Enein on re-hiring fired employees and reopening the factory starting Thursday.
Ahmed Youssef, the trade union spokesperson for the company workers, said that workers are glad to see the end of the crisis but are waiting for confirmation from one of the factory's senior officials before returning to work.
Hundreds of Ceramica Cleopatra workers had demonstrated Wednesday evening before Suez City Hall to demand the reopening of the factory, as the company's factory located at 10th of Ramadan City was already reopened.
Ceramica Cleopatra, one of Egypt's biggest ceramics firms, has been hit for months by intermittent strikes by factory workers complaining of low wages and intimidation.
On 17 July, factory workers broke into the Suez security headquarters and clashed with police, who used teargas and batons to disperse them, injuring 15. The incident was triggered after Abul Enein agreed to resume work at the factory after nine days of strikes, saying he would negotiate with the workers once they were back at work. He apparently reneged on the agreement.
Abul Enein, a former member of Hosni Mubarak's National Democratic Party, was hit with a travel ban on 5 July due to ongoing investigations into his management practices. Abul Enein is being investigated on charges of not paying Ceramica Cleopatra workers, preventing them from doing their jobs, threatening them with dismissal and illegally firing them from factories in Ain Sokhna and 10th of Ramadan.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
