Mohamed Omar
Transport workers, on strike for over a week, agreed to settle after negotiations with the Public Transport Authority, said state-run Al-Akhbar newspaper.
According to statements made by head of the Public Transport Authority, Mona Mostafa, the strike has ended and all garages are now fully operating. The strike ended after the workers were promised EGP 300 instead of EGP 200 in the money they get for meals. The Public Transport Authority sent a memo to the Governorate of Cairo demanding the agreed raise for the workers.
The spokesperson of the independent union for land transport workers, Tarek Al-Beheiry, told Al-Akhbar while most workers had returned to work, some would remain on strike adding the EGP 100 raise was only one of the workers demands. They also wanted the Public Transport Authority to fall under the Ministry of Transportation rather than the Governorate of Cairo.
No one from the union for land transport workers or the Public Transport Authority could be reached for comment.
The workers started with a partial strike of handful of the 27 garages in the Greater Cairo region, including the governorates of Cairo, Giza and Qalyubia. While the plan was that the strike would grow to include all 27, the strike only included nine garages at its largest.
Two days into the strike, tensions rose as Al-Beheiry was arrested. He was accused of inciting the workers to strike. Workers surrounded Al-Beheiry to prevent the arrest. After several hours, he was arrested to be released later on.
Teachers at public schools also went on strike demanding better conditions including an EGP 3,000 salary; most of them currently receive only a fraction of that. They decided to strike in the first week of the new academic year. Teachers from across the country came to Cairo to camp out in front of the cabinet. Negotiations were held on Sunday between a delegation of the striking teachers and the Ministry of Education.
Another strike is planned for October, by medical practitioners. They are also demanding better working conditions, an EGP 3,000 salary, better security in hospitals, and an increase in the portion of the budget allocated for medical care to 15 per cent.
At least two doctors, Mostafa Al-Beheiry from Daqahliya and Ahmed Hussein, will be on hunger strike from 15 October if they are not satisfied with the way officials respond to their demands after the start of the strike. The two were already on hunger strike but they agreed to suspend it after the decision to strike in October was taken by the doctors’ syndicate general assembly which convened on Friday.
