CAIRO: Less than one week after the Egyptian National Council for Wages set the minimum wage in Egypt to 400 Egyptian pounds ($70) per month, an administrative court in the country has received a lawsuit that is demanding the new law be repealed. It comes as debate continues over minimum wage laws in the country, with an earlier court ruling ordering the Egyptian government to implement a 1200 Egyptian pound ($210) monthly wage for all workers. Nagy Rashad, an activist, is being joined by a university student and an unknown editor, in demanding the cancellation of the minimum wage decision, arguing the new legislation violates the Egyptian Constitution. The Egyptian Council for Economic and Social Rights, in the lawsuit filed on behalf of the three plaintiffs, said that the decision “bypassed the provisions of the judiciary and did not apply the text of the Administrative Court ruling, as well as violating the provisions of the Constitution and the law.” They are demanding that the minimum wage be set at 1200 Egyptian pounds in accordance with the earlier court's ruling. “We believe it could be the right step, but they have to be careful that going to court does not remove the minimum wage in favor of nothing because families cannot live on 400 pounds, but would suffer even more if the wage was dropped,” Mohamed Reda, a worker's advocate in Alexandria told Bikya Masr. The Center added that the determination of the 400 Egyptian pound amount as the minimum wage “is not permissible as the comprehensive wage and cannot be determined by a decision resolution, because it includes part of a variable (bonuses, allowances and compensations). “It is difficult to measure or adjust or control the commitment of business owners in applying it, in addition to business owners – including the State – always deliberately cut base pay and variable pay increases to be one of the factors that control the workers, and a tool to facilitate the punishment,” according to the plaintiffs. The lawsuit explains that the purpose of the legislation of a minimum wage in society “is to achieve a balance between wages and prices to ensure a decent life for workers, while the adoption of an amount of 400 pounds minimum wage, whether basic or not, would not achieve this end because it makes the Egyptian worker under the national poverty line and international levels [of poverty].” The vast majority of Egyptian workers live on less than $2 per day and with recent surges in food prices, the average family continues to struggle to make ends meet and put food on the table, said Reda. “We want something that will give us the ability to feed our family,” he continued. “It is not much to ask for a livable wage, but our right as human beings in Egypt.” BM
