CAIRO – The Government's recent decision to raise minimum monthly wages of civil servants and workers to LE 700 ($ll6.6) has led to the question whether this amount suffices to lay the foundation for social justice. In a country where around 40 per cent of the population is below the poverty line, the reaction to the decision is expected to be controversial. Some have perceived it as a sign of goodwill on the part of Essam Sharaf's caretaker Government. However, others have been skeptical about the effect of what they termed ‘mere reform measures' that did not take the entire wage structure into consideration. The pay issue has been a priority on the Government's agenda in fulfillment of a persisting popular demand that triggered massive protests before the January revolution. The decision, to be implemented next month, has been associated with a Governmental promise to raise the minimum wage to LEl,200 in five years. Economy and labour experts had reservations; they criticised the decision as ‘arbitrary'. Trade union members lashed out at the Government for breaking with recognised traditions, thereby ignoring the opinion of labour representatives concerning the amount. Minister of Finance Samir Radwan has been accused of issuing an incomplete decision when determining the minimum wage and leaving the ceiling for maximum pay open. “The details are vague,” Saber Barakat, a trade union activist, told Al Mass'iya evening daily. “The decision does not define the beneficiaries clearly, nor the condition of civil servants who were not promoted in years, nor the general wage structure,” he complained. Barakat added that the matter needed a revolutionary approach to strike a wage balance in the Governmental sector since the private sector had its own rules. The Sharaf Government has been in office for around three months and has come under fire as far as its handling of certain domestic issues is concerned, particularly security and wages. El-Badri Farghali, a former parliamentarian, is against fixing a minimum wage, as long as there is still a financial drain, caused by senior statesmen. He referred to rough estimates, which mentioned LE3 million a month. He explained that each State institution had its local fund, where large sums were allocated to seniors of the administrative hierarchy, while the wider base were given peanuts. Farghali was of the opinion that determining a minimum wage without a maximum would not help bridge the gap between the ‘haves' and the ‘have-nots'. Moreover he was critical of the decision as it ignored pensioners. “This is unethical and reflects the same outlook of inferiority adopted by the pre-revolution government towards retired employees. Meanwhile, Mohamed el-Naggar, a professor of Economy at Benha University, preferred to look at the issue from a realistic point of view, believing that a minimum wage of LE700 was a step in the right direction. The Government, he said, had apparently showed consideration towards the lower strata; but he called for further steps that would redress the pay scale. He explained that wages had to be linked to prices, in case price hikes maintained the current increment rates and devoured any pay increases. He remarked that maximum wages should not be more than ten times higher than minimum wages. As an economic expert he found the establishment of a pay-productivity link extremely important, so that increments would not be taken for granted.
