Egypt crisis: Protests switch to demands on pay

[jannyk]

Source: BBC

Fresh protests and strikes have flared in Egypt as demonstrators demand better pay and conditions from the country's new military rulers. Bank, transport and tourism workers all demonstrated in Cairo after 18 days of protests succeeded in removing President Hosni Mubarak. The military did finally clear Cairo's Tahrir Square of protesters but hundreds later returned. They included police wanting to show solidarity with the movement.

Hundreds of bank employees protested on Monday outside a branch of the Bank of Alexandria in central Cairo, calling for their managers to resign. Ambulance drivers parked 70 of their emergency vehicles along a riverside road in a pay protest.

Near the Great Pyramids, some 150 tourism industry workers also demanded higher wages.


Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12448413

[htuttle]

1. The real fight starts today

The military owns 30% of the economy. This will either split the movement from the army, or it will split the army, depending on how well the junior officers and enlisted soldiers have been taken care of.

[dipsydoodle]

2. Egypt's main sources of income are

The Suez Canal, tourism, gas, and oil all of which are reasonably constant other than tourism which has now dwindled to c. nil. They cannot increase canal transit fees above the alternative cost of the long route. If that was to be then in supporting their strikes I can only assume that some here would happily accept higher oil prices in return - wouldn't bother me none.

Currently the c. 300,000 in the Central Security Force / Police receive higher pay than other groups mainly courtesy of US aid @ US$1.5 billion pa. A solution could be remove the CSF's enhanced pay to release funds for payments to others. Whether they would that remains to be seen.