Egypt’s military calls on workers to end wave of strikes as protest leaders pan huge Victory March on Friday
Egypt's new military regime on Monday called on workers to end a wave of strikes and civil disobedience that has toppled the regime of Hosni Mubarak, at the time the protest leaders were planning a huge "Victory March" on Friday to celebrate the revolution and renew commitment to their demands.
In its latest announcement since it took power Friday, the Supreme Council of the Armed forces urged labor leaders to call off their action, but stopped short of issuing a decree banning them, as it had been rumored it would do.
"Some government institutions have staged protests despite life returning to normal at a time when all citizens should stand together," a spokesman said on state television, as doctors and policemen marched in Cairo.
"Honorable citizens can see that protests at this critical time will have a negative effect in harming the security of the country," he said, arguing that strikes harm the state's ability to provide for citizens and hurt the economy.
Protest leaders say Egyptians will demonstrate again if their demands for radical change are not met. They plan a huge "Victory March" on Friday to celebrate the revolution and renew commitment to their legal demands.
Free and fair elections will be held under a revised constitution, the military said on Sunday, but it gave no timetable beyond saying it would be in charge "for a temporary period of six months or until the end of elections to the upper and lower houses of parliament, and presidential elections."
Political analysts were beginning to ask how long the whole process of amending the constitution, having a referendum on it and then holding elections would all take.
Meanwhile, hundreds of employees demonstrated outside a branch of the Bank of Alexandria in central Cairo on Monday, urging their bosses to "leave, leave," echoing an anti-Mubarak slogan.
At least 500 people demonstrated outside the state television building all calling angrily for higher wages.
Protests, sit-ins and strikes have occurred at state-owned institutions across Egypt, including the stock exchange, textile and steel firms, media organizations, the postal service, railways, the Culture Ministry and the Health Ministry.
Kamal Abbas of the Centre for Trade Union and Workers' Services told AFP that workers in banking, transport, oil, tourism, textiles, state-owned media and government bodies are striking to demand higher wages and better conditions. "It's difficult to say exactly how many people are striking and where. Who isn't striking?" Abbas said.
Many trade unions are headed by people affiliated to Mubarak's regime, leaving workers with little formal channels to air their grievances. "In many places, workers want the removal of senior figures who are accused of corruption," Abbas said.
In Tahrir Square, military police in red berets had surrounded the protesters, who numbered about 40. The head of the military police was at the scene. Activists said two protesters had been detained.
