Agreement has been reached over salaries, transportation allowance, and health insurance BBC Cairo’s staff staged a series of strikes to protest discriminatory behavior by London management LONDON: In a negotiation process, BBC’s London management has agreed to ensure higher salaries and essential benefits to its staff at the Cairo office. The agreement was reached after a series of protests started in June 2023 against discriminatory behavior in BBC’s financial policies. The head of the Egyptian Journalist Syndicate, Khaled El-Balshy, present in the negotiation process, confirmed to Ahram Online that “the new regulations would provide compensation increases ranging from 75 to 142 percent for entry-level positions, as well as equal transportation allowances for all employees and double allowances for night shift workers.” Under the agreement, “each employee’s BBC-sponsored health insurance will be increased to cover an extra family member,” noted Khaled El-Balshy. In addition, BBC management decided to reconsider its “volatile markets” policy to tackle economic recessions in nations where it operates. According to the syndicate, the review will be finished by December 2023, but it will be implemented in BBC Cairo with immediate effect. BBC News operates in 58 locations across 44 countries and adjusts salaries accordingly to account for inflation. Egypt is in the grip of a financial crisis, with around one-third of its 109 million population living in destitution. According to data from the state-run Central Agency for Mobilization and Statistics, the annual inflation rate hit 36.8 percent in June, up from 33.7 percent in the last few months. BBC Cairo staff began a gradual strike that started in June this year, followed by a three-day strike in July and a 10-day strike in August 2023.