A Cairo-based human rights NGO has challenged the government’s failure to implement a previous court verdict calling for the establishment of a new national minimum wage.
The Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights (ECESR) on Tuesday filed an appeal before an Administrative Court (secondary circuit) at the State Council Judicial Complex in Giza in hopes of having the previous ruling upheld and enforced. A final verdict is expected during the next court session scheduled for 26 October.
The ECESR raised its case on behalf of Nagy Rashad, a worker at the South Cairo Grain Mill, who had hoped to see the monthly minimum wage raised to LE1200 (roughly US$218.) On 30 March, the court ruled that a new minimum wage be established in light of soaring living expenses.
Since 1984, the national minimum wage in Egypt has officially been set at an unrealistically low LE35 (roughly US$6) per month.
“The courts don't have jurisdiction to determine the national minimum wage, but they do have the authority to determine that the minimum wage must be adjusted,” lawyer and ECESR director Khaled Ali told Al-Masry Al-Youm. He added that a court decision upholding the previous verdict would "add weight" to demands that the minimum wage be raised.
Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, along with officials from the state-appointed National Council for Wages (NCW), have argued that, since 2008, the minimum wage has been set at LE355 per month (roughly US$65). Although the NCW was established in 2003 to ensure that salaries were kept in line with rising costs of living, it has only convened a handful of times since its inception.
According to World Bank standards, Egypt’s semi-official 2008 minimum wage barely exceeds the international poverty line of US$2 per day, or US$60 per month. In reality, however, there are many workers in the public, private and informal sectors earning less than US$65 per month. Over 40 percent of Egyptians are said to be living under this poverty line.
In April, hundreds of public-sector worker and employees staged days-long sleep-ins outside of parliament to demand pay raises. These workers, along with hundreds of others, were forcibly removed from the area by police on 23 May.
According to employees of Information Decision Support Centers, which are affiliated with the Ministry of Local Development, their monthly wages range from LE99 to LE149 (between US$18 and US$27) per month. Workers from the Agricultural Land Reclamation and Improvement Apparatus affiliated with the Ministry of Agriculture, for their part, earn between LE60 and LE100 per month (between US$10 and US$18.)
Following the 30 March verdict in favor of Nagy Rashad, workers and activists staged a protest outside the Council of Ministers on 3 April. A larger protest was organized outside the council on 2 May to demand that the minimum wage be raised to LE1200. Activists also demanded that a "maximum wage" be set for governmental officials.
Article 23 of the Egyptian Constitution stipulates that both minimum and maximum wages be fixed in order to ease income disparities. Egypt is also a signatory to the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights, Article 7 of which demands that states ensure that all workers receive fair wages and equal remuneration for work of equal value without distinction of any kind, stressing that such wages should guarantee a decent living for workers and their families.
“President [Hosni] Mubarak, [Minister of State for Economic Development] Othman Mohamed Othman, and other officials have been dragging their feet in terms of setting an adequate minimum wage,” said Ali. “We hope this second court verdict will push them into taking action.”
