Egypt’s economy continues to operate in vacuum | GulfNews.com

Egypt’s economy continues to operate in vacuum | GulfNews.com:



"Egypt’s next president is likely to face a far more complex problem than cracking down on Islamists — meeting the demands of workers desperate for decent jobs and wages.



While the authorities have cowed the Muslim Brotherhood by throwing its members behind bars in their thousands, factory employees say they are ready for a fight. Officials realise workers’ demands cannot be ignored as a wave of strikes will compound Egypt’s instability just as the new leader — most likely to be army chief Field Marshal Abdul Fattah Al Sissi — struggles to mend the economy.



At the Diamond textile factory near Cairo, staff are determined to win more rights and say the popular uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak in 2011 has failed to produce any improvement in social justice. “For more than 20 years we did not speak or demand our rights,” said Essam Al Husseini, who began work at Diamond almost two decades ago and makes only 1,300 Egyptian pounds ($190) a month, barely enough to feed his family."



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