1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:06,000 [Sign] Raise your voice from among the people. We are sick of all the injustice! 2 00:00:06,200 --> 00:00:14,501 [Sign] Nilawiyin district and motor shop: We want our rights and the fulfilment of our legitimate demands. Otherwise we won't return to our homes! 3 00:00:16,001 --> 00:00:19,001 We are using peaceful pressure right now, 4 00:00:19,100 --> 00:00:22,003 but our demands will not be fulfilled without negative pressure. 5 00:00:22,004 --> 00:00:25,004 For a while we've been stopping people from blocking roads and 6 00:00:25,204 --> 00:00:27,004 turning off water and sewage stations. 7 00:00:27,204 --> 00:00:31,204 If we turned off just one station, this country would drown in sewage water. 8 00:00:31,404 --> 00:00:33,006 It would be a catastrophy. 9 00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:38,006 We want social justice. The revolution was in the name of social justice. 10 00:00:38,206 --> 00:00:42,206 Do we need one in every corner to realize this? 11 00:00:42,406 --> 00:00:46,008 Do we need a January 25th in every part of government to enact social justice? 12 00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:49,500 These people here have been on a sit-in for 3 weeks. 13 00:00:49,700 --> 00:00:54,009 They've been eating, sleeping and living in the company. The authorities ignore us. 14 00:00:54,209 --> 00:00:57,011 There is total silence, as if there are no authorities. 15 00:00:57,211 --> 00:01:01,500 As if this sit-in takes place without a company and authorities. 16 00:01:02,014 --> 00:01:06,014 The Dakahliya Company was one of the most stable and quiet ones. 17 00:01:06,200 --> 00:01:10,014 There was no unrest, out of concern for the country and its situation. 18 00:01:10,015 --> 00:01:13,015 However, suddenly we're the only ones asked to tighten our belts. 19 00:01:13,016 --> 00:01:17,016 The people negotiating with me are all earning tens and hundreds of thousands of pounds. 20 00:01:17,216 --> 00:01:19,016 Do they ever tighten their belts? 21 00:01:19,018 --> 00:01:23,018 They wear big pants and put on weight, but don't need to tighten their belts. 22 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:25,900 And that's no problem? 23 00:01:26,500 --> 00:01:29,500 The problem is that the worker should tighten his belt. 24 00:01:29,700 --> 00:01:34,019 Some days we stay at work from 8 am until midnight, 1 am or 2 am. 25 00:01:34,219 --> 00:01:38,021 Sometimes pipes explode, and that keeps you at work till daybreak. 26 00:01:38,022 --> 00:01:46,022 If one pipe explodes you could keep working from 8 am until midnight, and then till the dawn prayers. 27 00:01:46,222 --> 00:01:49,022 When you come to get your wage, you will find nothing. 28 00:01:49,024 --> 00:01:51,024 Those in higher positions earn their money, 29 00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:54,024 but when you look for your rightful wage, there is nothing. 30 00:01:54,224 --> 00:01:58,025 We have 4-year-contracts. The first 2 years we got 270 pounds. 31 00:01:58,225 --> 00:02:03,025 One day I climbed out of the sewer and a car hit my head, cracking it open. 32 00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:07,027 My colleagues here saw this, but no one from the company gave a damn. 33 00:02:07,250 --> 00:02:11,028 I'm a worker of the company, I am insured, with a permanent contract. 34 00:02:11,228 --> 00:02:15,028 I went to my supervising engineer that evening. 35 00:02:15,200 --> 00:02:20,028 I had worked the night shift. I went to him at 9 pm, and he asked: "What do you want from me?" 36 00:02:20,228 --> 00:02:25,030 He told me to look out for myself, to park my bike or place rocks to mark my spot. 37 00:02:25,230 --> 00:02:31,031 No one did anything for me. I had to pay for my treatment, even though I have insurance. 38 00:02:31,032 --> 00:02:34,032 What do we get? Where are our rights? 39 00:02:34,200 --> 00:02:39,032 This is my colleague Mohammed Etman here. He works in Aga. 40 00:02:39,033 --> 00:02:42,700 We were working the morning shift together. His leg was cut open, and noone gave a damn. 41 00:02:42,800 --> 00:02:46,034 The supervisor was useless. They didn't even let him go home. 42 00:02:46,150 --> 00:02:50,700 - He didn't let me go home, but told me to finish my shift or to find someone to replace me. 43 00:02:51,037 --> 00:02:54,139 One time a colleague asked me to fill in for him because his wife was giving birth, 44 00:02:54,339 --> 00:02:56,339 and he needed to be with her. 45 00:02:56,539 --> 00:03:02,038 Now the water network has 3 or 4 workers, and the head of the network. 46 00:03:02,200 --> 00:03:06,038 We cover about 12 towns, over 400 square kilometers, so we need transportation. 47 00:03:06,039 --> 00:03:12,039 Some people work behind a desk and get 7 pounds a day as transport allowance. 48 00:03:12,040 --> 00:03:17,040 We don't get that allowance. We have to go whenever they call on us, day or night, 49 00:03:17,200 --> 00:03:22,040 or whenever there's an emergency. Our official hours are from 8 am till 2 pm. 50 00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:27,500 Once you go home, as you eat, they can call you to fix something somewhere, and we have to go. 51 00:03:27,700 --> 00:03:32,043 And when we try to file for overtime, they don't like it. 52 00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:36,044 We have to pay for the nails we use, out of our own pocket. 53 00:03:36,244 --> 00:03:42,044 If the maintenance department doesn't have certain spare parts we buy them ourselves. 54 00:03:42,045 --> 00:03:47,045 They say they'll reimburse us. But when we give them the receipts, they say: "We have no money!" 55 00:03:47,046 --> 00:03:50,500 "Where should we get the money to pay you?" 56 00:03:50,700 --> 00:03:56,048 They tell me to bring them a receipt, and I do, so why don't they reimburse us?! 57 00:03:56,049 --> 00:03:59,049 My friends here have receipts, so do I. 58 00:03:59,200 --> 00:04:04,500 We got them for the company. And we still haven't been reimbursed till today. 59 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:08,050 So we take our own money and give it to the company. 60 00:04:08,150 --> 00:04:10,500 Not to mention the cement we handle with bare hands. 61 00:04:10,700 --> 00:04:15,052 They don't lease a digger and ask: "Why else are you employed here as a worker?" 62 00:04:15,252 --> 00:04:18,353 They say we're supposed to dig. Cement, like the stuff on the roads. 63 00:04:18,553 --> 00:04:21,055 Can you cut that up with your bare hands?! 64 00:04:21,255 --> 00:04:24,055 We split it open with drills and hammers. 65 00:04:24,257 --> 00:04:27,057 Here, our hands are completely blistered. 66 00:04:30,057 --> 00:04:39,057 Arbitrary dismissal. 67 00:04:41,059 --> 00:04:45,059 We are in solidarity with those people who are demanding their rights. 68 00:04:45,259 --> 00:04:50,060 We demand our rights, for all who were fired by General Ahmed Abdeen. 69 00:04:50,260 --> 00:04:54,500 All were fired for security reasons, not for any dishonorable reasons, just arbitrary dismissal. 70 00:04:54,600 --> 00:04:58,400 Anyone with connections gets in, works, and then gets thrown out on the street. 71 00:04:58,600 --> 00:05:05,062 [Sign] Dakahliya workers demand equality with the main company and the return of the arbitrarily dismissed. No to injustice! It is our right to return to work. 72 00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:08,064 I am responsible for a family, and I've nothing but my hands. 73 00:05:08,264 --> 00:05:11,300 If I fall ill or anything happens to me, how will I support myself and my family? 74 00:05:11,500 --> 00:05:13,065 I have no income except for the company. 75 00:05:13,267 --> 00:05:16,700 I was dismissed. We're here in solidarity with the people in the company. 76 00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:19,067 Their demands first, and ours to follow. 77 00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:21,500 We won't let go. We're demanding our rights and justice. 78 00:05:21,800 --> 00:05:25,120 I've been here for 24 years. Every so often, someone dies. 79 00:05:25,320 --> 00:05:29,320 Most of them from Hepatitis C and liver diseases. 80 00:05:29,520 --> 00:05:34,420 77 percent of those who die in our line of work, before or after retirement age, 81 00:05:34,520 --> 00:05:38,320 die from Hepatitis C or liver disease. 82 00:05:38,520 --> 00:05:40,520 - That is because of the sewage. 83 00:05:40,720 --> 00:05:47,072 One colleague had to get two stent insertions, and I know at least 3 people who turned blind. 84 00:05:47,272 --> 00:05:51,072 Because of the sewage. I work for the water network. 85 00:05:51,272 --> 00:05:55,272 The workers in both departments, water and sewage, get abused and brutalized. 86 00:05:55,472 --> 00:05:59,074 Ahmed, come here! 87 00:05:59,274 --> 00:06:04,074 Ahmed has two braces, and Hepatitis C, because of the sewage. 88 00:06:04,076 --> 00:06:08,076 No one stood by his side, no syndicate, no management or anyone. Only his collegues... 89 00:06:08,276 --> 00:06:12,800 Ahmed, excuse me for being so explicit: Only his colleagues donate some at the end of each month. 90 00:06:12,900 --> 00:06:17,077 That's it. No syndicate helped him, and he had to get 2 stent insertions in his heart. 91 00:06:17,200 --> 00:06:21,079 - They give to some people, but not to others. 92 00:06:21,279 --> 00:06:28,079 I've been covering 18 sewage stations for 24 years, in the Markaz district. 93 00:06:28,081 --> 00:06:34,966 There's pollution, and if a pipeline explodes we can spend up to 3 days working on it. 94 00:06:35,166 --> 00:06:38,166 And we should get a bonus of 30 to 40 pounds. 95 00:06:38,366 --> 00:06:41,081 I mean, it is really from 20 to 30 pounds. 96 00:06:41,083 --> 00:06:47,083 It is paid monthly, and not everyone gets it. This month I didn't get my bonus. 97 00:06:47,200 --> 00:06:52,084 I don't know why they canceled it. I need to spend 1,050 pounds on treatment every month. 98 00:06:52,284 --> 00:06:56,084 The medications after the 2 bypass surgeries alone cost 410 pounds. 99 00:06:56,086 --> 00:07:00,086 And who helps me apart from my fellow workers? There's no one in the company. 100 00:07:00,286 --> 00:07:02,500 There is no healthcare, nothing. 101 00:07:02,900 --> 00:07:04,500 All our rights are destroyed. 102 00:07:04,700 --> 00:07:12,088 A manager picked up the phone and ordered me to take all workers to fix a clogged tank. 103 00:07:12,288 --> 00:07:18,088 A main one, meaning it is 7 meters deep. A worker's blood is on your hands if he dies. 104 00:07:18,089 --> 00:07:24,089 How can I ask a worker to go so deep into a tank? The worker will listen to me and go in. 105 00:07:24,091 --> 00:07:29,091 And there's no breathing equipment or oxygen or anything. 106 00:07:29,291 --> 00:07:34,091 Nothing hi-tech. They tell you to go get equipment from the storage, but what equipment?! 107 00:07:34,291 --> 00:07:37,093 What am I supposed to get? Ventilators? 108 00:07:37,293 --> 00:07:44,093 Where should I get a compressor so I can give people down there air to breathe? 109 00:07:44,095 --> 00:07:48,095 When a young workers turns yellow in the face I tell him to come back up. 110 00:07:48,296 --> 00:07:53,096 They want the workers to keep working, so they can keep earning money off their backs. 111 00:07:53,296 --> 00:07:57,096 That's what happens. We have to deal with so much injustice. 112 00:07:57,298 --> 00:08:00,098 It am not responsible. I see the corruption but I can't do anything about it. 113 00:08:00,300 --> 00:08:04,098 They need to investigate, but they send us corrupt managers. 114 00:08:04,100 --> 00:08:07,100 They replace one with the other, they shift them around. 115 00:08:07,200 --> 00:08:09,300 If there's a complaint they send him to me. 116 00:08:09,400 --> 00:08:13,000 But if I see someone's skill and talent, the company sends him elsewhere. 117 00:08:13,200 --> 00:08:16,500 They send him to one company, then they discover him there and sent him elsewhere. 118 00:08:16,600 --> 00:08:19,800 Is there no one in the country anymore who can manage these companies?! 119 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:23,601 [Sign] Aga district: All workers stage a sit-in until our rights are respected. 120 00:08:23,700 --> 00:08:28,103 People are standing up, and, so God wants, their rights will be respected. 121 00:08:28,105 --> 00:08:32,500 There is depression and despair because those we complain to are corrupt themselves. 122 00:08:32,607 --> 00:08:37,400 How can you ask a criminal to investigate the case of the victim? They are the ones who kill us. 123 00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:42,107 [Sign] Raise your voice from among the people. We are sick of all the injustice! 124 00:08:42,300 --> 00:08:50,109 [Sign] The scales of the workers in the water network - (right) The holding company in Cairo - (left) The Dakahliya company for water and sewage treatment. The foundation of property is justice! 125 00:08:53,110 --> 00:09:00,110 [Sign] Important notice: No to rumors and divisions among our ranks. The sit-in will continue until the fulfilment of our demands!