CAIRO: Tree-planters staged a demonstration outside the Ministry of Agriculture on Sunday, protesting overdue salary payments.
The workers, from Gharbeya and Menufiya, also demanded the abrogation of temporary work contracts and for temporary workers to be made permanent, the Center for Trade Union and Workers Services (CTUWS) said in a statement released Sunday.
The 3,000 tree-planters earn a basic monthly salary of between LE 60 and LE 75.
Some of them have been employed on temporary contracts for 17 years.
According to CTUWS, the temporary contracts allow workers to be dismissed arbitrarily.
Sahar Abdel Khaleq, a tree-planter from Menufiya is quoted as saying, “We’ve been working for two years and have no job security because of the temporary contacts. Every so often they dismiss people and employ new people, and if an official doesn’t like someone he can dismiss him any time and for any reason.
