RAS AL KHAIMAH // Taxi drivers will this week be given new contracts that will base their salaries on a fixed commission.
The agreement comes after a three-month delay. It would validate a 25 per cent commission introduced last June, the RAK Transport Authority (Rakta) said.
That came after talks between drivers and the emirate's three taxi firms, prompted by drivers' protests. Rakta, which mediated in the negotiations, said the delay was caused by the companies' reluctance to put the fixed commission scale in place permanently.
Most drivers earn between Dh1,000 (US$272) and Dh2,000 a month under the new guideline, higher than what, on average, they were previously paid.
The previous sliding scale commission plan ranged between 10 per cent and 30 per cent, and guaranteed drivers a salary of Dh500 a month. The new contract does not offer a base salary.
Jason Farhat, Ratka's director of commercial and investment affairs, said: "We are trying to make it clear for both parties what their responsibilities are."
Fares have been slightly increased to help companies offset increased wage costs.
Drivers say they are still working long hours just to cover expenses.
The companies - Al Hamra Taxi, Cars Taxi and Al Arabiya Taxi - declined to comment.
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950