Egypt: The Struggle For A Realistic Minimum Wage

AL-MASRY AL-YOUM
Egyptian workers rally for national minimum wage
Fri, 02/04/2010

Hossam el-Hamalawy

A coalition of labor groups and NGOs will be demonstrating tomorrow 11 AM in downtown Cairo, calling for raising the national minimum wage.

The national minimum wage in Egypt is LE35 a month, and remains unchanged since 1984. Labor activists want the government to raise it to LE1,200.

In a statement signed by more than 10 groups, the government was accused of "impoverishing the population" by the privatizing factories and social services, and called for a protest in Hussein Hegazi Street, facing the ministerial cabinet headquarters.

Signatories include the Mahalla textile workers, the independent union of property tax collectors, postal labor organizers, train drivers, and a group of human rights NGOs, including the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights (ECESR).

"This is a message to the ruling National Democratic Party and the government that the labor movement's demands must be met immediately," said Khaled Ali, the labor lawyer who directs the ECESR. "Raising the national minimum wage is a demand that has no party, no ideological color. It's simple: the Egyptian people cannot continue living with those ridiculous level of wages."

Last Tuesday, the country's Administrative Court ruled that the government must set a minimum wage in line with rising prices of basic commodities," without defining a figure.

The court order came following a lawsuit by the ECESR against the president and the prime minister, requesting that they narrow the gap between wages and soaring prices. The center provided the court with economic studies to support their request, mainly conducted by celebrity economist Ahmed el-Naggar.

"The ruling recently must be taken seriously by the government, and it has to be implemented," said Ali. "Tomorrow's protest is about making sure this happens."

Egypt has been embracing a strong wave of industrial actions since December 2006, when Ghazl el-Mahalla, the largest textile mill in the Middle East, with roughly 24,000 workers in its factories, went on strike for three days over unpaid bonuses. Workers in the textile mill had called for a strike over several demands in April 2008, including raising the national minimum wage to LE1,200. The strike was aborted by the police, while the town erupted in a two-day uprising amid bread shortages.

Saturday's protest comes on the heels of continued protests and sit-ins in downtown Cairo, in the area surrounding the parliament. The sidewalks have seen sit-ins by textile workers, civil servants, housing demolition victims, and people with special needs demanding housing and access to government jobs.

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حكم تاريخى بإلزام الحكومة بوضع حد أدنى عادل للأجور فى المجتمع

ECESR — Tue, 03/30/2010

المركز المصرى للحقوق الإقتصادية والإجتماعية

قال المركز المصرى للحقوق الإقتصادية والإجتماعية لقد حصلت الطبقة العاملة المصرية على حكم تاريخى يلزم رئيس الجمهورية ورئيس الوزراء والمجلس القومى للأجور بوضع حد أدنى عادل للأجور فى المجتمع، وقد قدم المركز ضمن مستندات الدعوى دراسة للباحث الإقتصادى أحمد السيد النجار أوضحت إمكانية زيادة الأجور فى المجتمع من خلال الموازنة الحالية للدولة، ودراسة أخرى من مركز المعلومات ودعم اتخاذ القرار أوضحت التطور التاريخى للحد الأدنى للأجر فى مصر والذى توقف رسميا عند 35 جنيه بموجب القانون 53 لسنة 1984.

لقد ترافع المركز المصرى للحقوق الإقتصادية والإجتماعية عن ناجى رشاد القيادى العمالى بمطاحن جنوب القاهر والذى قام برفع الدعوى مطالبا بتنفيذ نصوص الدستور المصرى والإعلان العالمى لحقوق الإنسان، والميثاق العربى لحقوق الإنسان، والعهد الدولى للحقوق الإقتصادية والإجتماعية التى تضمنت أحكاما بضرورة وضع حد أدنى للأجر يضمن للعامل وأسرته حياه لائقة و كريمه، كما أوضح المركز أن قانون العمل 12 لسنة 2003 أنشأ مجلس قومى للأجور من مهامه وضع حدا أدنى للأجور على المستوى القومي بمراعاة نفقات المعيشة وبإيجاد الوسائل و التدابير التى تكفل تحقيق التوازن بين الأجور والأسعار.، وهو النص الذى أهملت الحكومة تطبيقه عن عمد لذا طالبنا فى المحكمة بوقف تنفيذ القرار السلبى بالإمتناع عن وضع حد أدنى عادل للأجور .

وبعد أن تداولت الدعوى بالجلسات لمدة قاربت على العام أصدرت محكمة القضاء الإدارى حكمها بوقف تنفيذ هذا القرار السلبى بما ترتب عليه من آثار أخصها إلزام المدعى عليهم بوضع حد أدنى عادل للأجور.
هذا وسوف يحصل المركز على نسخة من الحكم لتقديمها لمجلس الوزراء يوم 3 ابريل فى التظاهرة التى دعى إليها المركز مع العديد من القوى العمالية والحقوقية للمطالبة بوضح حد أدنى للأجور فى المجتمع.


30 مارس 2010

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This is a struggle of Egyptian working-class people demanding a minimum wage of LE 1,200 - a mere $218. The monthly minimum wage set by the Egyptian State has not increased in nearly three decades. It is set at LE 35 - a pitiful $US 6.26 per month.

Sustaining a family/household on less than LE 1,200 is simply unrealistic in our day and age - especially in light of increasing living expenses.

The monthly minimum wage in Poland is equivalent to $US 602. While in Hungary it is around $375, and in (fellow "Third World" country) Ecuador $233 per month. Raising wages to LE 1,200 ($ 218) is a very reasonable and just demand.

It is a basic right which must be won - by all sectors of the labor force, for all sectors of the labor force.

JC