MAHALLA EL-KOBRA, Egypt — Egypt rushed Tuesday to grant bonuses to workers after two days of deadly riots over high food prices and low wages racked this northern industrial city, fueling government fears that economic angst might boil over across the country.
A top United Nations official warned that many poor nations are in danger of such unrest as inflation heats up around the globe.
Rising prices have struck hard in Egypt, a U.S. ally where 40 percent of the people live in or near poverty. This Nile Delta factory city has seen a wave of strikes for more than a year, and the anger exploded into rioting Sunday and Monday.
Protesters tore down a billboard of President Hosni Mubarak and fought with police in clashes that left one person dead in the worst unrest since Egypt’s 1977 riots over increased bread prices.
Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif hurried to Mahalla al-Kobra on Tuesday with several top economic ministers to meet with workers at the 50-year-old, state-owned Misr Spinning and Weaving factory complex that employs 25,000 people.
“We know Mahalla is suffering and you have passed through many crises,” Nazif told them. “But it is through crises that men prove their mettle.”
He announced they would receive a bonus of 30 days’ pay and promised to address their demands for better health care and higher wages.
Workers in the hall cheered. But afterward, many were skeptical.
“What Nazif has said, we’ve heard it all before — what’s new? They really have no idea how we suffer here,” said Rashad Fathi, a factory worker who said his monthly wage of $34 was not enough to feed his four children.
The chief of U.N. humanitarian operations, John Holmes, said Tuesday that poor people around the world are facing worsening hardship because of the expense of food.
“The security implications should also not be underestimated as food riots are already being reported across the globe,” Holmes said during a conference in Dubai. “Compounding the challenges of climate change, in what some have labeled the perfect storm, are the recent dramatic trends in soaring food and fuel prices.”
