CAIRO: Over 700 tax collectors from the Real Estate Tax Authority staged a sit-in in front of the Minister's Council yesterday, resuming a series of strikes that started last April. The Sunday sit-in follows in the footsteps of a Nov. 13 demonstration that took place in front of the Egyptian Federation of Trade Unions. The series of strikes have cost the tax authority over LE 4 million, according to latest estimates. The tax collectors demand that the Real Estate Tax Authority, which is under the authority of the local municipalities, be returned to the Ministry of Finance, as it was prior to 1974. However, workers say they would be willing to accept an increase in wages matching that of their colleagues in the Ministry of Finance. "Whereas they receive incentives of 305 percent, our incentives, should we do a good job, are only 55 percent above the basic rate of pay. This usually varies from LE 150 to LE 350. I have eight children and earn LE 230 per month. How can I feed my wife and child on that, have I got to resort to begging? Sabry Uthman Al-Sayed Mohamed, a collector at the authority, told Daily News Egypt. Protesting tax collectors brandished banners and chanted slogans calling for the resignation of the head of the Real Estate Tax Authority, Isma'il Abdel Rasoul, whom they claim had intentionally misinformed the government with regards to workers' rates of pay. While Abdel Rasoul claimed that the average tax collector earns LE 1,200, while they claim the figure is a fraction of that. Although real estate tax collectors have been dissatisfied with their wages and conditions of employment for over a decade, the situation has escalated in recent months. Now, they are up in arms after rates of pay have increased dramatically at the Ministry of Finance. "We presented a report to Hussein Megawer, the head of the Union of Workers, Hasan Abu Asiam, another tax collector, told Daily News Egypt. "He said he would look into the problem, and of course it goes without saying that he is well aware of the disparity between the real estate tax collectors and those in the Ministry of Finance. And yet he has signed the report showering LE 80 million on the employees of the Finance Ministry. It's absolutely absurd. Nadia Mushriqi, who earns LE 187 a month added. "All we want is equality with our colleagues. We work long hours, knocking on people's doors sometimes until 11 pm. There are around 600 employees in the Real Estate Tax Authority office. They earn over LE 1,000 for sitting in an air-conditioned office. Asiam, who had traveled from Fayoum to attend the protest, earns LE 200 and has three children. However, he wasn't the only protestor to come from outside Cairo. All of Egypt's 27 governorates sent representatives to take part in the protest, boosting numbers as well as morale.
