BBC workers in Cairo conclude 2nd strike over low wages with plans to escalate

Dozens of workers at the BBC’s Cairo bureau gathered in the office’s lobby on Wednesday at a presser to conclude a three-day strike organized to condemn managers discriminating against Egyptian nationals by paying them at rates vastly below their foreign colleagues. 

The strike was the second of its kind within a month for the Egyptian workers, whose rates of pay have remained constant since 2020. Managers have resisted adjusting the pay grades to account for a dramatic depreciation in the value of the Egyptian pound over that period, with the currency losing more than 50 percent of its value against the dollar since the beginning of 2022. 

With pay raises granted to BBC employees in other countries experiencing similar currency crises, such as nearby Lebanon and Turkey, BBC Cairo workers are protesting the exceptional wage suppression. 

Another round of negotiations is due to begin next week, and BBC Cairo staff are ready to escalate if it fails, Journalists Syndicate head Khaled al-Balshy said at the Wednesday evening press conference, which was well-attended by domestic and international outlets covering the strike.

According to Balshy, higher-level managers from London are set to meet with him for another round of negotiations on July 27 at the syndicate headquarters. If the talks fail, the staff plans to escalate their protest action.

The strike was the latest move in a series of negotiations with the administration in London, which repeatedly ignored the workers’ demands, according to Balshy, who has represented the Egyptian staff in the talks. 

“They never treat it as a negotiation. They come to ‘explain the situation’ to workers,” he noted, adding that the administration also tried to reject the national syndicate’s role in representing the staff.

Staff first requested that managers reconsider how wages are calculated in March 2020. Foreign nationals on staff get paid in dollars, while Egyptian nationals get paid in Egyptian pounds, two staff members told Mada Masr after a one-day strike held in June. Staff began intensive negotiations with BBC Cairo managers in February, they said, with Balshy intervening later on.

Balshy explained in Wednesday’s presser that despite BBC managers acknowledging the ongoing economic crisis, their latest response has been only to point once again to a 27-percent raise implemented in the last 12 months to offset the devaluation of the pound.

“These are outright lies and a manipulation of the numbers. We have an Egyptian labor law that already requires an annual raise of seven percent in normal conditions. BBC managers are adding to this seven percent the sum of two 10-percent raises granted over a two-year period. As if this is a trump card in the face of the economic crisis,” Balshy said, pointing out that these “raises” were calculated at the current wage rates, “which are half the value of their actual salaries.”

The central bank has acted on three separate occasions over the past year to adjust the value of the Egyptian pound downward and is expected to continue to do so to meet policy recommendations stipulated in the December agreement with the International Monetary Fund for a US$3 billion Extended Fund Facility.

While the BBC’s Istanbul and Beirut offices faced similar crises, Balshy noted, the wages of the staff there were ultimately adjusted for inflation. “A similar crisis with the Turkish bureau ended with two salary increases within two years totaling about 135 percent. There is clear discrimination against the Egyptian staff,” he said.

Besides the illusory raises, Balshy said that BBC managers responded to the demands with what he described as “crooked capitalist tactics,” such as threats of salary deductions, possible upcoming layoffs, and games of divide and conquer with the organized staff.

Balshy said that the staff received a communique on Wednesday saying that senior BBC managers would come to the syndicate on Thursday to “present the situation again,” but that he is hoping this could lead to a clear plan of action toward solving the crisis, which he believes should include “compensation for the last period” in addition to their original salaries.

If it fails, however, “the way forward will include all necessary legal steps and a broader escalation of measures,” including communicating with British political parties and the House of Commons to address “this corruption and violation of freedom of expression” from a British public body.

Another strike may also take place within the coming 15 days if the demands are not met, he added.

The syndicate head also noted the amount of solidarity received by the Cairo staff, including from the UK’s National Union of Journalists and journalist syndicates in the region, as well as staff members in the Istanbul and Beirut offices, “who confirmed the discrimination in wages.”

In a statement, the NUJ called for managers at the BBC in the UK to reconsider the wage policy for the workers in the Cairo office, while the International Federation of Journalists denounced last month the failure of the BBC management to amend the salary policy in line with the ongoing devaluation of the Egyptian pound.