CAIRO: Within the framework of the National Program for Employment and wages adopted by the Egyptian government, Minister of Finance Samir Radwan held a joint meeting with representatives of the International Labor Organization (ILO) in the presence of the ministers of Labor and Solidarity and Social Justice. The meeting discussed how to benefit from the experiences of a number of states with regard to the system of wages and employment in Egypt. Radwan confirmed he will reconsider the system of wages as a whole both in terms of minimum or maximum wages in order to achieve two main pillars of efficiency and link it to production, and to achieve social justice. Radwan stated that the National Program for Employment and wages is 100% Egyptian and that they will benefit from the experiences of the ILO, which has the experience of a number of countries in this regard including Brazil, Chile, England, Malaysia and India, stressing that the government is keen on providing workers with wages compatible with as much work and efficiency they give in order to achieve balance, justice and social stability. That review in the structure of wages in Egypt is one of the most important demands of the January 25 revolution, as it is a fair and legitimate demand which has not been achieved in past years and was not taken into account, stated Radwan in the Ministry's press release. The Egyptian Federation of Independent Trade Unions also stressed on the paramount importance of this issue as one of the main demands of the Egyptian labor movement which has witnessed a wave of frequent protests and strikes for the past four years because of low wages, lack of job security facing rising unemployment rates as well as the absence of mechanisms for collective bargaining and the deprivation of the Egyptian workers from the composition of independent trade union organizations outside the “official” trade union organization which was imposed by the force of law and the despotic former regime according to the Federation's statement. Moreover, the Federation announced that it welcomes the initiative of the Egyptian government to discuss the status of wages in Egypt, which suffers a clear structural defect and lacks the minimum reasonable, or rather humanitarian level. It affirms its cling to the promises and pledges made by the government regarding the adoption of a minimum satisfactory wage in Egypt before the expiration of the six transitional months. Thus, Radwan said the experiences of countries that have succeeded in achieving a balance between the wages and prices will be reviewed, choosing what best suits the Egyptian reality. This was discussed Monday in an expanded meeting as in a workshop including 7 ministers and representatives of the General Union of Chambers of Commerce, the General Union of Chambers of Tourism, the General Union of Construction and Building Contractors, the General Federation of Egyptian Industries and a number of associations and trade unions. The Egyptian Federation of Independent Trade Unions, while welcoming the experts of the ILO who came to Egypt to provide its expertise and technical assistance regarding the minimum wage and its specifying criteria, demanded the commitment to international labor standards and the reliance on the customary rules in this regard and showed strong reservations on the method of organization of the workshop. The Federation called upon the ILO to respect the right of workers to freely choose their representatives and their organizations; as trade unions are supposed to respect these standards as a prerequisite to discuss their allegations in regard of workers' representation, stated the Federation. The Egyptian Federation of Independent Trade Unions accordingly defies the representation of “official” trade union of the Egyptian workers based on several reasons; the most important is the serious criticism it faces regarding the procedures of nomination and election to its membership and its opposition to the democratic labor standards, it announced. BM
