CAIRO: After a 10-day sit-in outside the cabinet office, the Real Estate Tax employees protest and nationwide strike was finally called off. At 1 pm exactly, weary workers, many of whom had been sleeping rough since the beginning of the protest, made their way down Qasr Al-Aini Street. As they prepared to leave, they were handed copies of a document compiled by their representatives, the Higher Council for the Real Estate Tax Workers. After hours of negotiations, the delegation comprised of 10 men including Kamal Abu Eitta and Makram Labib Abdel-Messih, reached an agreement with Finance Minister Youssef Boutros Ghali. Although the employees' rights have not yet been legally passed, the delegation is confident that the government will respond positively to their demands. Abu Eitta, the main representative of the Real Estate Tax employees told Daily News Egypt, "After much negotiation with the Finance Minister, he agreed to our demands on condition that we end the sit-in. The conditions on which the employees agreed to stop their strike were clearly laid out to avoid confusion and to prevent the government from reneging on its promises. According to a statement distributed by the employees' committee of representatives, the most important decision made was that Ghali would set up a regulatory framework through which Real Estate Tax employees would return under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Finance, from which they had been separated since 1974. The sit-in will be disbanded for one month until a decree is finalized regarding salary scales and bonuses, which the protestors wish to streamline with their counterparts at the Finance Ministry. Protest representatives will reconvene a meeting with the Ghali on Sunday Dec. 23 following the Eid Al-Adha holidays, on the occasion of which the employees were promised two-month bonuses. The government also promised not to investigate or penalize any of the employees who took part in the strike. The employees will not, however, go back to work throughout the month during which the negotiations will take place and final decisions are put into effect. If the government fails to keep its promises, the employees will resume their sit-in.
