CAIRO: Real estate tax collectors agreed to end their protests after the Ministry of Finance promised to negotiate their demands, Tarek Mustafa, treasurer of the Real Estate Tax Collectors' Independent Union, said. Protestors have four main demands: to be equalized with tax collectors under the finance ministry, to be paid a travel allowance and to have their independent union recognized. Earlier this week, the Workers' Union lodged an official complaint to the prosecutor general against Kamal Abou Eita, chairman of the Independent Union for Real State Tax Collectors, for heading an illegal union. Last Thursday, real estate tax collectors protested against the Ministry of Finance's decision to include them under the General Syndicate for Banks, Insurance and Finance Employees. They demanded the ministry retracts its decision, which would see the union s fund brought under the umbrella of the Banks' Syndicate. Last April, the tax collectors formed Egypt's first independent trade union since 1957, 14 months after they forced the government to respond to their demands for better pay. According to a statement by the Hisham Mubarak Law Center, the Workers' Union's complaint is based on the fact that the government does not officially recognize the Real State Tax Collectors' union. The Ministry of Finance only recognizes the Banks' Syndicate. The main problem, Mustafa said, is with the Workers' Union and the General Syndicate for Banks, Insurance and Finance Employees, who oppose any independent entity working on the liberalization of workers. "Our problem was not with the [finance] minister, we get along with him, he said. The Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights is also calling on the Ministry of Finance to cancel the contested decree number 425, which would see the real estate tax collectors' employees join the Banks' Syndicate It also encouraged the right to use peaceful means - including strike action - to defend their interests. The center further added that the Ministry of Finance, the National Democratic Party's policies committee and the Workers' Union are to blame for any financial losses that might result from the strike.-Additional reporting by Yasmine Saleh
