The United Bank (Al-Masraf Al-Muttahid) has notified the Mansoura-España Garments Company workers it will liquidate the firm, diregarding the agreement reached between the government and the parliament, as it decided the fate of the company already, without showing any signs it is interested in holding the agreed meeting with representatives from the Factory Union Committee, the General Federation of Trade Unions and Labor Ministry.

For more details in Arabic click on the pic below…

[Above: Mansoura-España Garments Company workers staging a sit-in. Photo by Hossam el-Hamalawy, taken on 9 May, 2007.]

Browsing thru the Bank’s website, I found this in the Background…

The United Bank is an exciting new name in the Egyptian banking and finance sector with a one billion Egyptian pounds paid in capital. It was established by the Central Bank in June 2006, as a part of its reform strategy in Egypt, the United Bank acquired three banks; the United Bank of Egypt, the Islamic International Bank for Investment and Development, and the Nile Bank.

This is probably the most recent scandlous case I come across where “Islamic capitalism” is a party to the conflict, and involved in shameful exploitation of their workers. A couple of years ago, activists were involved in another solidarity campaign with the asbestos workers who were facing slow death on the hands of Hagg Abdel Azim Loqma of the Muslim Brothers, and now we get the United Bank, which brags about its “Islamic” roots and which makes the Mansoura-Espana workers toil under conditions which remind us of may be the Industrial Revolution in Britain…. It is once again, a clear proof that money is money… capitalism is capitalism.. be it bearded or shaved or whatever.. the core dynamics of workers’ exploitation, capital accumulation rule over whatever banner the capitalist is raising…
Shame on the United Bank!

Meanwhile, the sit-in by the men and women workers at the factory, which started 21 April, continues….