Introduction
- 8th Report on the Impacts of the Global Financial Crisis on Egyptian Workers
Meanwhile, the government of Egypt, forgetting that we are an integral part of the global economic system, continued during the same months its denial of any impacts of this financial crisis on the Egyptian economy alleging that we are completely far from such impacts. Then when the impacts became apparently clear it started cautiously during the past few weeks to negate its previous declarations and admitted that we are not going to be far from the crisis. The government admitted that it has not introduced any actual solutions vis-à-vis the crisis whose repercussions will mainly fall upon the workers. Further, the impacts of the crisis on workers were totally disregarded to the extent that officials statements to newspapers were limited to how businessmen would be supported. As for the workers, they should back businessmen an and bear the cost of their retrenchment and reduced wages as if they attribute the crisis to the workers rather than the wrong policies. Employers raised their vices calling for a free and to lay off the workers in order to reduce the cost and reduce the losses resulting from the crisis. They, in turn, forget that what they lose is just a portion of their profits, whereas the workers will lose their sole sustenance and livelihood.
The Center for Trade Union and Workers Services (CTUWS) is of the opinion that it is high time to activate the Workers Emergency Assistance Fund which was established on June 18, 2002 by virtue of law No. 156/2002 as an entity with legal public personality under the jurisdiction of he Minister of Manpower. The purpose of the Fund according to its founding law is to help the workers whose wage disbursement stops due to total or partial closure of their enterprises or to the reduction of the number of the workers of workers of these departments who are registered as covered by social insurances. It is necessary to review the Fund statutes which stipulate the disbursement of 75% of a worker’s basic wages in case a workers is laid off. This provision should be amended so as to make this percentage of the overall wages rather than the basic wages. Moreover, it is necessary to activate the Unemployment Fund stipulated by the Social Insurance Law so as to provide unemployment compensation for all the laid off workers similar to the practice throughout the world. It is equally important to design actual (not just on paper) retraining programs on activities which will not be affected or may be slightly affected by the global financial crisis instead of the activities which are under its direct impact.
While the Center for Trade Union and Workers Services (CTUWS) started to issue its periodical report on monitoring the impact of the global financial crisis on the workers based upon field data rather than solid figures, the CTUWS does not claim that this efforts reflects the overall size of the disaster. It is a mere participation to shed light on the situation according to the resources available for the work teams formed in several work sites.
The CTUWS expresses sincere thanks to Mr. Ahmed El Sayed El Naggar chide editor of the Strategic Report of Al Ahram Newspaper for his directions which helped produce the reports in its present form. He volunteered to review the reports, validate the figures contained therein and directed the work teams to the main sectors that started to groan under the burden of the financial crisis.
