CAIRO – Egypt's Minister of Manpower and Immigration Ahmed Hassan el-Borai met an International Labour Organisation (ILO) delegation on Thursday to discuss the status of Egyptian workers returning from Libya after a deadly turmoil against long-standing leader Muammar Gaddafi, the official Middle East News Agency reported. The delegation spoke with the ministry about a mechanism to solve the problems of those workers, who now have no jobs, added the agency. "The ministry spoke with the delegation, trying to create new jobs for Egyptian returnees from Libya," el-Borai said. "The meeting also discussed ways of offering all health and social needs to those workers." The delegation had held discussions late on Wednesday with the Egyptian Government about the minimum wages and determine them. The delegation stressed that the Government is committed to setting a minimum wage level through consultation with social partners. In a statement, the ILO visitors urged the Egyptian Government to set a preliminary minimum wage, test its impact, and then make annual raises based on changing prices of commodities. The delegation warned against making haphazard changes to wages, saying that such a move would damage workers' purchasing power. It urged Egypt to consider rising inflation and how it relates to wages. The ILO stressed that the minimum wage should be based on reliable data and realistic analyses, highlighting Egypt's need for a professional body, preferably approved by a law, that can determine appropriate wages.
