By: Dr. Sherif kasim
I know my words will apply to everyone… and all social classes… but here I’m talking about one aspect of problems that may seem simple, but which indicate undesirable trends and more complex consequences in the state’s policies towards different segments and classes of the population.
What the state is doing with professional and labor unions regarding the leased beach lands with annual usufruct rights for the purpose of establishing clubs or summer camps for their members and their families, in an attempt to enable the children of the middle and working classes to find an outlet to enjoy the sea view or a breeze in the summer heat that soothes their souls and renews their vitality…
The unions pay an annual fee for their services, but that’s not the problem… The problem is that this fee is increased annually in line with inflation rates, and even much more… And this is happening while the unions’ resources, which are determined by the government and its parliament, are not moving at any rate!
Is it permissible for the government, which decides everything and is responsible for the economy, its outcomes, inflation, and price increases, to be the sole beneficiary in all circumstances, while the people bear the burden of the results of its experiments?
And the burden of the usufruct fee it collects for 1000 or 2000 square meters rises from several thousand to tens of millions annually…!!
And of course, the unions that can’t even afford to pay their members a pension, let alone buy medication for old age, due to their limited resources, which the state determines as I mentioned… they won’t find the money to pay the exorbitant sums required to build a club on the sea or the Nile, so debts accumulate and they are threatened with demolition. And this is after years of spending lavishly on building their clubs, both expensive and inexpensive…
is this fair? Does anyone expect anything good from such policies that disregard social considerations? Is this fair?
They value only those who can pay (the highest price)!
Dr. Sherif Kassem, a leader in the Egyptian Commercial Syndicate and former Secretary-General of the Federation of Professional Syndicates
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