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Minimum Limit for Fees

Special attention was put to the minimum limit for fess and salaries in some countries in the late twenties and early thirties, as fees were so very low that they have led to the deterioration of workers' livelihood conditions.
Fess and human rights
The United Nations has issued the world declaration for human rights in 1948 stating in its article no. 23 that every person has the right to receive a fair fee or salary that guarantees him and his family a decent life in addition to other means for social security.
This right is stipulated in srticle no. 34 of the Egyptian labor law noo. 12 for the year 2003 to guarantee a balance between salaries and prices, as a national council headed by the Minister of Planning was formed to specify the minimum limit for salaries nationally, putting the spending policies and modes of consumption.
Since the formation of this council about five years ago, it didn't specify a minimum limit for salaries, which left salaries and fees determined by law no. 53 for the year 1984, which is 35 Pounds per month. According to the available information, the minimum limit for mothly salaries in the year 2005 was 168 Pounds in the governmental and public business sectors and 154 Pounds in the private sector, which have reached 186 Pounds per month in the governmental sector in 2007.
The groups that need to increase their fees and salaries are:
• Uneducated or untrained workers who accept any type of work that they finds with any amount of money offered.
• Workers listed in inactive syndicates that cannot defend their rights.
• Workers in the unofficial sector who are not listed in syndicates.
• Workers who face discrimination based on gender (women), age (children and elder people), origin, nationality (migrants), disability … etc.
The best definition for the criteria of the minimum limit for salaries is is recommendation no. 13 of the International Labor Organization that included six criteria for the minimum limit for salaries:
• The needs of the worker and his family.
• The state's general status of salaries.
• Living expenses.
• Social security.
• The livelihood conditions of disadvantaged groups (old people, the disabled, and families that lost one or both of their supporters or parents).
• The economic elements that include the level of productivity and employment.
There are other criteria stated in some relevant studies, such as:
• The relationship between the minimum limit for salaries and the line of poverty.
• The relationship between the minimum limit for salaries and the general average of salaries in the national economy that provides the average needs of food and others basic needs.
The line of poverty in the United States ten years ago for a family of three was 17170 Dollars a year, while it is very much less in Egypt. LCHR sees that the national council that determines the minimum limit for salaries in Egypt must consider the deteriorating economic and social conditions, as the prices of many basic goods have increased by 200%, as it must build a connection between salaries and prices and their periodical increases.
LCHR also sees that all civil society organizations in Egypt must organize campaigns, workshops, conferences and form groups to pressure the government in order to determine a minimum limit for salaries that is suitable to the local, national and international developments and changes according to international agreements and declarations in order to guarantee people safety and decent living.