Workers of the Public transportation authority resumed on Monday their strike in Cairo and Giza at the public garages for the third day in row to voice their demands of being paid six-month profits, like their colleagues at the metro, amending the authority’s regulations to reduce gaps in salaries and incentives through applying the minimum wage.
Tareq al-Beheiry, vice-chief of the independent trade union, said the bus drivers are mulling escalation through protesting outside the garages. The trade union’s members will convene on Tuesday to ponder the escalation steps and protest place, he added saying that the cabinet has been ignoring their demands and strikes since 2011.
The LE200 offered by Cairo governor could end the crisis, in case it was disbursed permanently with 10 percent annual increase, Beheiry told Al-Masry Al-Youm.
Beheiry called for a timeline to achieve the workers’ demands, saying they are “a category deprived of many of the rights throughout the past years.”
Mohamed Khalil, operation manager of Abbassiya garage, said the governorate’s secretary general promised the workers to respond to their demands, with the minimum wage on top, in two weeks.
According to the secretary general, procedures made to turn 50 percent of the workers with temporary contracts to permanent contracts are done, Khalil told Al-Masry Al-Youm. Official documents for the rest 50 percent are underway to receive permanent contracts soon.
The workers also added that the secretary general promised them that the governorate will afford the traffic fines imposed on drivers, which were deducted from their wages.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
