Tax Authority employees have threatened to start a sit-in outside the presidential palace on Saturday if colleagues who were suspended for participating in a protest four months ago are not reinstated.
The head of the authority, Deputy Finance Minister Ahmed Refaat, suspended 26 workers in March on the order of Finance Minister Momtaz al-Saeed after they staged a peaceful demonstration outside the authority for two weeks. The tax workers were demanding the dismissal of Refaat, Mounira al-Qady, wife of military Chief-of-Staff Sami Anan, and other officials who they said had remained in office in spite of exceeding the legal age. They also demanded an increase in their bonuses.
The head of the Tax Authority Workers Independent Syndicate, Mohamed Ahmed, said that the suspended workers released a statement demanding that “the corrupt officials in the authority” be brought to account and a raise in wages. They also said that employees should not work past the age of 60 and that the heads of the authority should no longer receive monthly bonuses.
Another suspended worker, Hani Mostafa, who is an inspections officer at the joint-stock companies department, said the suspension was supposed to end on 26 June, but the Tax Authority sent a memo to a disciplinary court demanding that it be extended.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
