Hundreds of workers from information centers run by the Ministry of Local Development on Tuesday staged demonstrations before the Council of Ministers Cairo headquarters to protest their deteriorating financial situation. They said the government had not carried out a July parliamentary resolution to raise their salaries and pay their social security subscriptions. Workers' representatives met with Hussein Megawer, head of the Egyptian Federation of Trade Unions, in an effort to resolve the impasse. They also plan to present their grievances to members of the ruling National Democratic Party's influential Policies Secretariat. Upon his return from vacation, Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif is expected to review a complaint submitted to his office by protest coordinator Gamal al-Sharkawi. Workers threatened to call a hunger strike if their demands were not met. They also called on President Hosni Mubarak--and his son, Gamal, who heads up the Policies Secretariat--to intervene on their behalf. Workers in provincial information centers, meanwhile, refused to accept their monthly salaries in solidarity with their colleagues in Cairo. They have reportedly been referred to the Local Development Ministry's legal affairs department for investigation. “The minister told me that we won't receive any raises until the Finance Ministry allocates the necessary funds,” said Gamal Ahmed, another protest coordinator. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
