The Syrian Future Movement is following with great interest the developments in the strike file of the workers of the \u201cZenobia\u201d ceramic and granite manufacturing company in the Al-Kiswa area in the Damascus countryside, which continued for several days in protest against low wages and deteriorating working conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We highly appreciate the efforts made by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor, led by Minister Hind Qabwat, which culminated in reaching an agreement on Monday, June 15, 2026, ending the strike, which had entered its eighth day in a row, and representing a role model for responsible social dialogue between the three parties of production: the government, employers, and workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First<\/strong>: The Syrian Future Movement appreciates the content of the agreement, which is a step towards improving the conditions of workers, but it stresses that its sustainability is the true test of its seriousness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The agreement stipulates an increase in wages by 700,000 old Syrian pounds, to be paid retroactively as of the beginning of this June. The agreement also includes practical measures to improve the work environment, including enhancing occupational safety standards, ensuring health care and periodic medical examinations for workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Syrian Future Movement believes that these provisions address, as a preliminary step, the essence of the workers\u2019 demands that have been clear since the beginning of the strike, which include increasing salaries to match the rising costs of living, improving working conditions, providing health insurance, and ensuring respect for workers\u2019 rights within the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While we praise this achievement, we recall that the value of the increase ultimately remains subject to the power of the bidder and the demander, in the absence of unified national legislation that specifies the minimum wage in the private sector and links it to inflation and cost of living indicators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Second<\/strong>: The Syrian Future Movement recalls its firm positions published on its official website, which affirm that workers\u2019 rights are a red line, and that social dialogue is the only way to achieve stability and development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Syrian Future Movement had previously issued a statement on June 8, 2026, under the title \u201cA strike by workers at the Zenobia Ceramics Company in the Damascus countryside,\u201d in which it discussed the rationale for the strike and its repercussions, and called on the government and employers to assume their legal and moral responsibilities in protecting workers\u2019 rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The movement also issued a statement on May 1, 2026, on the occasion of \u201cInternational Workers\u2019 Day,\u201d in which it renewed its commitment to protecting the rights of about 1.25 million workers registered in state institutions, stressing that the dignity of the worker is the dignity of the nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These serial referrals show that the Syrian Future Movement does not deal with this issue as an isolated event, but rather follows it continuously and is aware of its structural dimensions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Third<\/strong>: The Syrian Future Movement expresses conditional optimism and presents a set of practical recommendations to spare the private sector from future labor shocks and ensure the sustainability of the relationship between workers and management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What happened at Zenobia Company is an indication of a widespread state of labor congestion in a number of private Syrian industrial facilities, as a result of the decline in purchasing power and the continued rise in prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To avoid the repetition of these scenarios, and to ensure that this agreement turns into a real turning point, the Syrian Future Movement recommends the following:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n In conclusion: The Syrian Future Movement reiterates that investing in the Syrian person, and ensuring a decent life for the worker and his family, is the real investment that rebuilds the new Syria. The Syrian Future Movement appreciates the end of the Zenobia workers’ strike and stresses the importance of sustaining the agreement to improve conditions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":64979,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4841],"tags":[4706],"class_list":["post-64981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-popular-rules-office","tag-press-release"],"yoast_head":"\n\n
We call on the government and the private sector to view workers as partners in success, not as expendable production tools.
We believe that the success of the Zenobia Company experience should not remain an exception, but rather it should be transformed into a general model to be emulated in all sectors, and built upon to create an integrated work system based on rights, duties and dialogue, instead of crises and strikes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"