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Increases and amendments to allowances and health insurance rules… The Egyptian Center welcomes the end of the BBC journalists’ crisis in Cairo

The Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights (ECESR) welcomes the statement issued by Egypt’s Journalists Syndicate announcing the end of the crisis of journalists and workers at the BBC’s Cairo office after a series of strikes, which was concluded by the Head of Egypt’s Journalists’ Syndicate, Khaled El-Balshy, on Monday, September 18, with negotiations with the British Broadcasting Corporation BBC which ended by reaching a consensual agreement on their wages.

The Center honors and appreciates BBC journalists for their struggle to obtain their legitimate rights by all legal means, also thanking the Journalists Syndicate, headed by Khaled El-Balshy, for their continuous support for the BBC journalists in their crises, and its constant efforts to resolve them.

The agreement comes after three strikes by BBC journalists, and after negotiations that lasted for two full weeks between five representatives of journalists and workers at the BBC’s Cairo office and its management, with the full support of the Journalists Syndicate and the presence of the syndicate represented by the journalists’ union defending the rights of workers and journalists.

The Syndicate confirmed that agreement reached through negotiations resulted in an increase in the salaries of journalists and workers at the Cairo office provides 75-142 percent salary increases for entry-level positions, and included the addition of equal transportation allowance for all workers.

Moreover, the settlement included doubling the night shift allowance by 100%, and amending the health insurance conditions for workers at the BBC in Cairo by adding a new member to the insurance system for workers’ families, with promises to review the maximum spending limit in some areas of health insurance.

In the agreement, the BBC Administration Additionally, the BBC management pledged to review its “volatile markets” policy, which addresses economic downturns in countries where the BBC operates. The review is expected to be completed by December 2023. However, it will be applied retroactively to BBC Cairo employees starting in September 2023.

It is worth mentioning that the Egyptian Center discussed through continuous contacts with the protesting journalists, and a meeting in the presence of the Head of Egypt’s Journalists’ Syndicate, Khaled El-Balshy, ways to support them legally, together with studying the potential developments of their crisis, and provided legal advice to help them obtain their legitimate rights.

The Center renews its demand for the need to stop the arbitrary and discriminatory measures against workers in the field of journalism and media, as well as the realization of the principles of justice and material and moral equality for them as basic rights that are not negotiable.

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