In 2005 the Tanta Flax & Oils Company was privatized and subsequently bought by Saudi investor Abdellah El-Ka'aky.  In May 2009, workers launched a five-month strike backed by the state-controlled Egyptian Federation of Trade Unions (EFTU).  An agreement was reached but workers went back on strike in December to protest the deteriorating conditions in the factory.  In January the workers brought their protest to Cairo. . . .  "We want the government to rid us of this investor who is fooling us.  Either give us our rights according to what the government and the law say, or provide us with employment and give us our outstanding rights, which he [El-Ka'aky] scammed us and didn't give to us."

"A handful of MPs from the Muslim Brotherhood, as well as independents, have visited the workers and expressed solidarity with their demands.  'The example of the Tanta Flax Company has proved that the policy of privatization is a failure,' said Gamal Zahran, leader of the independent bloc in parliament.  'I will be filing an urgent parliamentary petition to this effect,' he added." -- Jano Charbel, "Tanta Flax Workers' Demo -- No End in Sight?"