Amid harsh condemnation from private sector employees over the recent LE400 monthly minimum wage decision, a number of government employees are saying they would like the decision to be applied to public sector employment.
Critics say the wage is not commensurate with rising commodity prices.
Education Ministry employee Mohamed Rashed said he believed the minimum wage decision did, in fact, apply to public sector work.
“I’ve been working for six years, but I only get LE274 a month,” he said. “All the official spin about raising our standard of living is just lies. They should see how the people are living!”
Ismail, a Ministry of Culture employee, said his salary is a meager LE160 a month. Even LE400 will not furnish a decent livelihood, he added, in light of rising living costs. He however said he hoped government officials would apply the minimum wage to him and his colleagues.
Abdel Radi Bakeer, a private sector employee, said protecting private sector employees' rights should be a greater government priority. Despite working in the private sector for the past ten years, Bakeer said he has never signed a permanent contract or obtained social insurance coverage.
Bakeer added that he submitted several complaints to cabinet ministers but received no response. He receives a monthly salary of LE1200, he said. The problem with private sector employment, he continued, is that worker rights are not stated clearly in contracts.
Mahmoud Ibrahim, another private sector employee, said he suspects the minimum wage ruling will never take effect. “If the ruling is not implemented, who will hold [Prime Minister] Nazif accountable?”
Ahmed Ibrahim, a cleaner at a private company, said he was unaware of the minimum wage ruling. When he learned that some workers are requesting a minimum wage figure of LE1200 monthly, he replied, “How could we possibly get even LE1000?”
Minister of Economic Development, Osman Mohamed Osman, admitted that LE400 is inadequate.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
