CAIRO: During the opening of the workshop “Effective policies towards the minimum wage in Egypt,” Finance Minister Samir Radwan said that the reform of the structure of wages is one of the most important priorities of the Egyptian government at the current stage, pointing out that the government is “keen to hold a genuine dialogue on the structure of wages and the minimum wage among the parties and the representatives of workers and business owners.” The workshop organized by the Ministry of Finance in cooperation with the International Labor Organization was attended by Ahmed El-Borai Minister of Manpower and Immigration, Safwat Al-Nahas head of the Central Agency for Organization and Management, ILO experts, representatives of Ministries of Finance, Manpower, Planning and International Cooperation and Social Solidarity, representatives of industry associations and chambers of the Egyptian trade unions and a number of experts. For his part, Youssef Alkerioti Director General of the ILO Office for Egypt and North Africa said that the role of the foundation is to provide consultation and technical assistance. Alkerioti pointed out that the policies of reform of the structure of wages is part of a package of different interventions between social security policies and the policies supporting the economy and that the reform of the minimum wage is the starting point in this direction which must be based on a tripartite dialogue between the government, the business owners and workers. Manuela Tome, manager of Working Conditions Program in the ILO, offered a number of mechanisms that are used in determining the minimum wage worldwide. Tome pointed out that the minimum wage the sum of all wages received by an employee including allowances and incentives rather than the base salary alone, which requires identifying the elements of pay package to be covered by the minimum wage along with the working hours of the employee. Radwan stressed that the discussion of the wages issues should not be reduced to the minimum wage which is received in Egypt by about 3.2% of the Egyptian labor force. Instead it must be addressed in parallel to the structure of wages in general; the minimum wage is one of the entrances to social justice, which includes tax policies, social subsidies and employment, education and training policies. The minister pointed out that there is a range of key issues that participants agreed on at the workshop regarding the structure of wages. The most important agreement was on the determinants of the minimum wage from data on wage levels and how to link it to the poverty line in addition to the importance of updating the poverty line on a regular basis and also taking into account the conditions of small and medium institutions and not to increase their burden as they are the most important axes that generate employment opportunities in different communities. He said that the participants agreed to hold further meetings to discuss in details whether to impose a minimum wage through a law or through collective negotiations. They also agreed on the importance of studying the relationship between raising the minimum wage and its burden on the General State Budget including the increasing cost borne by the public treasury from insurances and pensions. The Minister stressed that the accusations and unwarranted attack on the private sector aim at the fragmentation of the Egyptian society which will not be allowed by the government or the military junta, calling on the community members to come together and reach cohesion at this time for the benefit of Egypt and its national economy. Radwan stated that Ministry of Finance is studying a package of tax reforms which will be announced soon in order to support the minimum wage in the achievement of social justice. BM
