Administrative employees and workers at Egyptian newspapers held a protest on Tuesday morning to demand higher allowances.

Dozens of protesters gathered on El-Sahafa Street outside the offices of state-owned newspapers Al-Ahram and Akhbar Al-Youm near downtown Cairo before marching to the Shura Council (the upper house of parliament).

The protesters were demanding an increase in technology and training allowances, in addition to increased pension contributions by the government. The government pays training allowances to workers at state-owned and independent newspapers.

Talaat El-Manasi, the head of the newspaper workers union, told Ahram Online that workers from both state- and privately-owned newspapers marched to the Shura Council to present their demands to the speaker Ahmed Fahmy, who is also head of the Supreme Council of Journalism -- the body responsible for state-owned newspapers in Egypt.

Earlier this month, Fahmy presented a request to Prime Minister Kamal El-Ganzouri to increase the newspapers workers and journalists' technology and training allowances, but no action has been taken so far.

https://english.ahram.org.eg/News/36634.aspx