Nearby, hundreds demonstrated outside the Cairo branch of Egypt’s government-controlled power utility. One banner read, “The union is useless—a piece of s–t!” as employees shouted over each other to express their anger. “My basic salary is 280 Egyptian pounds per month [$47]. I have been working here for seven years!” complained one. “Most of us are on temporary contracts,” explained another. “I had to pay bribes so that I could keep my job.”
The strikers’ first demand is to fix a minimum fair wage of 1,200 pounds ($200) per month. This follows a court ruling in 2010 that the government must set a minimum wage compatible with the cost of living. (In November, the minimum wage—which had been set at 35 pounds ($5.90) a month since 1984—rose to 400 pounds ($67). “The problem,” said Erfan, “is that the government hasn’t started paying.”
Behind the scenes, Erfan and a group of 50 other lawyers have been a motivating force for the labour protests. Calling themselves “A Change for the Future,” the group, which was also involved in the anti-Mubarak protests, is “waging a war against corruption in Egypt,” Erfan states. “I have proof that some members in the National Bank of Egypt—those well connected to the government—earn as much as three million Egyptian pounds per month. That is more than in the United States! Egypt is not a poor country, it is the distribution that is so wrong.”
In the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, where Mubarak reportedly went following his resignation, the Egyptian revolution has manifested itself in empty streets. Among the kitsch camel figurines and belly dancing outfits on offer along the tourist strip, a shop owner who calls himself “Shaggy Lover Lover” looked out at the deserted thoroughfare where thousands of tourists would usually be walking. “I sold something this morning,” he said, “but many shops haven’t earned a single pound in three weeks.”
This tourist strip, so vital to Egypt’s economy, lies just kilometres from where the defeated president now hides, in a villa beside the beautiful Maritim Jolie Ville Resort. The hotel, set among palm trees and lush gardens that overlook the sky-blue waters of the Red Sea, comes with sniffer dogs and dozens of armed security officers. Guests in the hotel are carefully watched. “It has been lovely but quite odd,” said Judith Wood, 41, from Britain’s Isle of Lewis. “They say that we can’t swim in the sea at the hotel because of the sharks—they won’t let us near the water jetty without a security member. But they took us on a boat trip away from Mubarak’s villa, and were happy for us to dive into 45-m water!”
The goings-on in the villa are a mystery, with rumours mixing with leaks from Mubarak’s staff. “Mubarak is here, but he is very ill, he is in bed and needs assistance to walk—he has cancer,” said one source close to his security detail. “No, no, Mubarak is not here,” said a hotel staff member, scurrying away before he could be questioned further.
Back on the main strip, locals have mixed feelings about the former leader. Mubarak’s last redoubt is also his long-standing holiday home. “He loves Sharm el-Sheikh,” said tourist shop owner Thomas Romani, 28. “I love Mubarak, I don’t know why people did this.” Shaggy Lover Lover has a different view. “Now he is in hell,” he said jovially. “You can have all the money in the world, but if people hate you it is worth nothing.”
Pages: 1 2
