(DNE Photo)
The Ministry of Transportation announced on Wednesday it would cancel the public mobilisation orders issued for train workers after they suspended their strike.
The military had declared a state of public mobilisation on Tuesday and told several striking train workers they had been conscripted before issuing them with orders to drive trains. The workers would be subject to military trials if they refused the official orders.
Train workers had been on strike for three days before the military summoned several of them to the army’s Company 39 headquarters.
The Transportation Ministry released a statement on Wednesday saying it would cancel the public mobilisation and conscription after most workers decided to end the strike, but the Egyptian Centre for Economic and Social Rights (ECESR) said in a statement that real reason was that metro workers had threatened go in strike in solidarity with the train workers if the orders were not rescinded.
ECESR Chairman Khaled Ali said on Tuesday the military order was illegal because the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS), which declared public mobilisation, is not allowed to do so unless the country is preparing for war, in accordance with public mobilisation laws. He added that it was merely an attempt to frighten workers into ending the strike.
The centre announced on Wednesday it would appeal the conscription and mobilisation orders in court.
Train workers had been on strike for three days demanding an increase in wages, benefits and meal compensation. The minister of transport offered a 10% increase in salaries which the workers rejected, saying it was not enough and would in fact raise them to a larger tax bracket thus decreasing their net salary.
The workers plan to hold a press conference at 11am on Thursday at the office of the Egyptian Centre for Economic and Social Rights.
