CAIRO - Some 5,000 staff of Cairo International Airport ended a sit-in after the holding company promised that it would consider their demands for a pay increases and a halt to cuts in overtime payments, organisers of the action said. The protesters, who rallied for two hours at Terminal One and block the Airport Road late Wednesday, were demanding a halt to all measures related to cutting the annual Ramadan bonus from LE600 to LE300 as well as removing all former army officers, who had taken top posts in the company, the organisers said. The airport employees were also demanding a wage hike and the payment of compensation for certain jobs as well as for their recalling? from holiday. They also want to the company's management to keep their Ramadan bonus intact? and remove the ex-army officers from top posts," they said. The protesters have been angered by measures introduced by the deputy head of Airport Company, Ahmed Hafez, who has reduced this year's Ramadan bonus from LE600 to LE300 for each employee. “We notified the company's executive president during the sit-in that we expect a response to our demands very soon, and that if a response is not forthcoming or is negative we will prevent passengers from entering Departure Hall No. 1,” one of the protest organiser said. In response Hafez has called up the military police (MP) to defend the terminal and allow passengers to catch their flights.
