For several months now, I have been preoccupied with a problem that concerns the Writers' Syndicate as a whole. Members of the syndicate, when writing for radio and television, must forfeit two per cent of whatever fees they receive to this organisation. I and other members have long felt that these moneys should be returned to the syndicate. I recently wrote a letter to this effect to Abdel-Rahman Hafez, the chairman of the board of trustees of the Radio and Television Services. The letter was instrumental in bringing the whole matter before the committee of legal consultants.
After deliberating, the committee confirmed that syndicate members must not pay the two per cent. It also decided to extend the specific ruling to the general case, and so all writers are now exempted from this payment. Mr Hafez replied promptly; the government's responsiveness, after all, is a measure of its credibility. Of course, I was also overjoyed that all writers are now exempted from handing over two per cent of their fees. This was the result I had hoped for. As far as the syndicate is concerned, this will allow it to regain some of its former vibrancy. Finally, when I asked Mr Hafez what he suggested the syndicate do with the moneys it will retrieve, he expressed his wish that they be used to increase the pensions of retired writers, who often have no other means of subsistence.
For several months now, I have been preoccupied with a problem that concerns the Writers' Syndicate as a whole. Members of the syndicate, when writing for radio and television, must forfeit two per cent of whatever fees they receive to this organisation. I and other members have long felt that these moneys should be returned to the syndicate. I recently wrote a letter to this effect to Abdel-Rahman Hafez, the chairman of the board of trustees of the Radio and Television Services. The letter was instrumental in bringing the whole matter before the committee of legal consultants.