Thousands of Egyptian workers demonstrated in Cairo’s Tahrir Square on Sunday to demand an increase in the country’s 400 Egyptian pound ($67) per month minimum wage and other rights.
The demonstration paled in size compared to the mass protests of the last few months that led to the toppling of Hosni Mubarak from Egypt’s presidency. Those protests were triggered in part by economic concerns. “A minimum wage of 1,500 pounds!” read one of the banners hoisted above the crowd.
Demonstrators said they were also demanding permanent contracts for temporary workers and protesting against a new law restricting strikes, sit-ins and demonstrations by workers.
“We were not allowed to express our support for workers under Mubarak. Now that we can, it is our responsibility to do so,” said Lawyer Ramy Ghanem, 33, a member of a lobbying group, the National Front for Justice and Democracy, which helped organize the May Day protest.
The government appointed after Mubarak resigned on February 11 has been struggling to manage the workforce’s high expectations at a time when political turmoil has chased away tourists and foreign investors, two of its main sources of revenue.
Many Egyptians believe living standards can be bolstered by retrieving hundreds of billions of dollars they think were looted by corrupt officials and businessmen during Mubarak’s administration.
“When the revolution erupted, it was from the very first for economic reasons,” said Alaa Ibrahim, 58, a small private publisher.
But financial analysts say any money taken out of the country would be difficult to track down.