Abdul Rahman Khair, a workers representative on the National Council for Wages (NCW), has warned of mounting resentment among workers as a result of what he described as government “procrastination” in approving periodic salary raises for the private sector.
Khair called on Minister of Planning and Local Development Othman Mohamed Othman to quickly approve salary raises.
He told Al-Masry Al-Youm that Othman had so far failed to set a date for the next meeting of the NCW, although the council is expected to convene its annual assembly in January.
Khair also warned against delaying the assembly in an effort to avoid facing up to workers' grievances and the longstanding issue of a national minimum wage.
Egyptian Trade Union Federation head Mohammed Wahbullah, meanwhile, said that the usual seven-percent annual salary increase should be raised this year in order to offset the effects of inflation. He pointed out that Egypt's Labor Law did not set a maximum salary raise but a minimum, and that there was therefore no legal impediment to increasing it.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
