More money? THE GOVERNMENT is considering increasing the minimum wage and the annual employee bonus, Mona El-Fiqi reports. On 18 February, the Higher Council for Wages held its bi-annual meeting in which it asserted the necessity of increasing the minimum level of wages to LE250 per month. According to Law 53/1984 the current minimum is LE35 per month, a figure which the council said does not match Egypt's economic and social developments during the last few years. The council also recommended that the minimum wage level be reviewed annually, not every three years as is the case now. After being approved by the cabinet, the suggested minimum level will be obligatory for both public and private sectors. According to official figures, government employees who are paid the minimum level represent four per cent of the total labour force in Egypt which is estimated at 20 million. In a press conference this week, Osman Mohamed Osman, minister of economic development, said the government was committed to realising President Hosni Mubarak's pledge in his electoral platform to double the basic wage of low-income people within six years. "The government raised the wages of junior employees at the government and the public sector by 72 per cent during the past two years," says Osman, adding that during its previous meeting, the council requested experts to conduct a study about wages which discovered that an increase in wages, which reached 144 per cent during the past 10 years, had been offset by a dramatic increase in prices. Osman added that people do not feel a perceptible increase in their salaries because of high inflation which sometimes exceeds the annual rise in wages. The council recommended the necessity of amending item 34 in Labour Law 12/2003 which gives the council the right to decide the annual bonus for employees in accordance with economic and social changes as well as the annual inflation rate. The higher council was formed in 2003 and includes members of the government as well as representatives from the labour union and businessmen's organisations. The council, according to law, is authorised to determine the minimum level of wages and to examine workers and employee complaints. During the past three years, the Higher Council for Wages received 64 complaints from employees in various sectors that they were not paid the annual bonus approved by the government. Osman said the council decided that 41 companies were obliged to pay workers their annual bonus while 23 companies were excluded from the payments because of financial problems. Mehalla demos AROUND 10,000 textile workers demonstrated on Sunday at the Mehalla Textile Company north of Cairo to protest against the government's failure to stem soaring prices and increase low wages. Shouting slogans, the protesters demanded a sharp rise in their wages and called for raising the monthly salary of all workers in Egypt to LE1,200. Holding loaves of bread in their hands, the workers, accompanied by members of opposition parties and the Kifaya movement, called for a drop in the price of bread and other basic commodities. The demonstration in Mehalla, recently the site of a series of similar strikes, came as the government's National Council for Wages discusses a raise in the current monthly wage. The Mehalla demonstration was not the only protest organised this week. On Monday, demonstrations were staged at four governorates. In Menoufiya, over 2,000 workers threatened to stop work to protest against a decrease in their annual bonuses. In Port Said, workers at a company affiliated to the Suez Canal Authority organised a sit-in to press for more in salaries and bonuses. In Ismailia, lawyers working for an electricity firm threatened to start a series of measures against the company's administration which suspended their promotion decrees. In Fayoum, dozens of nurses protested against low wages. Demonstrations by workers calling for an increase in their salaries has become a recurrent scene ever since 2007. Angry professors HUNDREDS of professors at several state-owned universities will gather tomorrow at the headquarters of the Cairo University Teaching Staff Club to press for their demands doubling their salaries and amending the financial situation of professors over the age of 70. Appeals were made for negotiations with state officials and successive sit-ins were organised. On Monday, around 250 professors protested at the Mansoura Teaching Staff Club against low salaries. The protest came as part of recommendations issued by the fourth general conference of university professors held in December which called for holding successive sit-ins at teaching staff clubs across Egypt. Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Hani Helal last month ordered the formation of three specialised committees to discuss the demands of the professors and prepare a final report on the issue. The committees failed to issue a report before a stated deadline which apparently triggered anger among professors who vowed to continue their protests. "During Friday's conference, professors will have the final say," said Adel Abdel-Gawad, chairman of Cairo University's teaching staff. Hand in hand THE MINISTRY of Social Solidarity has issued a licence to an organisation headed by a leading immigrant Copt known for his hostility to the regime. Michael Mounir and other immigrant Copts have persistently attacked the governing system in Egypt which, according to Mounir's allegations, persecutes Copts. The criticism was reported to be one of the reasons behind attempts to reduce US aid to Egypt. The newly-founded organisation, "Hand in Hand for Egypt", does not limit its membership to prominent Christians but includes several Muslim politicians, businessmen, scientists and intellectuals. The government's approval has come in the wake of attempts by Mounir to hold direct talks with officials on problems facing Copts. A conference on immigrant Copts last week was held for the first time in Cairo. The launch of the organisation will be officially announced next week, its founders said. They stressed that they would try to provide an honourable example of citizenship, putting aside sectarian differences. Compiled by Mona El-Nahhas
