Political and economic claims are combined in strikes against the Egyptian dictatorship
The democratic revolution in course in Egypt won a new ally in the last days, in addition to the demonstrations in Tahrir Square, which carried hundreds of thousands of Egyptians to the streets on the 9th. The protests advance further beyond the center of Cairo and extend to several strikes for better working conditions and against the dictatorship of Mubarak.
The most important action occurred in the strategic Suez Canal. It dawned on 8th entirely stopped. About 6,000 workers at five service companies owned by the Canal Authority began a sit-in for better wages and the overthrow of the dictatorial regime.
According to the Portuguese newspaper Público, protesters set fire to the headquarters of the regional government of Port Said, a city of 600,000 at the mouth of the Suez Canal. In the same city, more than 2,000 textile workers also went on strike, in addition to 1,500 workers of Mahalla (in the Delta of Nile River).
In the Egyptian capital, 3,000 public transport workers stopped working on 9th, as well as the sanitation workers. In the touristic city of Luxor, thousands of civil servants hurt by the collapse of the tourist industry marched to demand government benefits. In another region, in the city of Quesna, 2,000 workers from the Sigma pharmaceutical company went on strike. Workers of the Telecom Egypt also joined the protests.
The series of strikes that happens in the country joins economic claims, like wages increasing, with political demands, which bump directly against the dictatorship of Mubarak.
The threats do not contain the protests
The government, however, gives signals of strengthening. In the night of February 8th, the vice president Omar Suleiman, that is heading the negotiations with the opposition, affirmed in an interview to the state-run TV that the Egyptians were not “prepared for democracy”.
On 9th there were hard clashes between demonstrators and policemen in the south of the Egypt, which would have killed at least five people. The dictatorship shows the possibility to a step up in the repression of the demonstrations. On 8th the demonstrators camped out at Parliament, where they had marched for the first time on Tuesday, feared that the police could dislodge them. People in Tahrir square, however, joined them and moved away this possibility.
More protests
The demonstrators’ will doesn’t seems to moderate. The Egyptian people show clearly that they will not leave the streets while Mubarak stays in power. Next Friday 11th, a holy day for the Muslims, a new struggle day against the government is being prepared. In the protests, they would homage the 300 dead persons by the dictatorship since the start of the rebellion in Egypt, on 25th January.
