Last Saturday (20 January), at 12 noon, railway drivers of the railway agency announced the beginning of a strike in protest of the continued enforcement of article 18 of the bylaws considering the replacement of drivers suffering chronic illness.
According to this provision a driver suffering chronic medical illness is transferred to another position, even if lesser than his original one, where he received his full wage for two years, after which he received only his essential pay and social incentives which basically means a reduction by 50% of his wage.
Drivers demanded to be treated like state employees and the implementation of article 66 of the state civil employee law no. 47, which allow an employee to receive his full wage if he develops any chronic illness, even if he is transferred to another job. Drivers announced that they will stop train no. 917 scheduled to leave for Alexandria at 12 noon. In the meantime, the train drivers league and the trade union have started negotiations with the railway agency and several security bodies trying to reach an agreement before 12 o’clock.
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