Protest in Egypt Takes a Turn as Workers Go on Strike
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
February 9, 2011
CAIRO — Protesters demanding the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak appeared on Wednesday to have recaptured the initiative in their battle with his government, demonstrating a new ability to mobilize thousands to take over Cairo’s streets beyond Tahrir Square and to spark labor unrest.
At dawn on Wednesday, the 16th day of the uprising, hundreds of pro-democracy demonstrators remained camped out at Parliament, where they had marched for the first time on Tuesday. There were reports of thousands demonstrating in several other cities around the country while protesters began to gather again in Tahrir Square, a few blocks from Parliament.
In Port Said, a city of 600,000 at the mouth of the Suez Canal, protesters set fire to a government building and occupied the city’s central square. There were unconfirmed reports that police fired live rounds on protesters on Tuesday in El Kharga, 375 miles south of Cairo, resulting in several deaths. Protesters responded by burning police stations and other government buildings on Wednesday, according to wire reports.
On Tuesday, the officials said, thousands protested in the province of Wadi El Jedid. One person died and 61 were injured, including seven from gunfire by the authorities, the officials said. Television images also showed crowds gathering in Alexandria, Egypt’s second-largest city.
Striking museum workers outside the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Cairo on WednesdayRead the full article at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/10/world/middleeast/10egypt.html?_r=2&ref=global-home&pagewanted=all-------------------------------------------
Egypt: A new wave of workers strikes and sit-ins
Mass protests demanding change have triggered a fresh wave of mass strikes and workers’ sit-ins across the country Wednesday, spotlighting long-ignored economic demands
Ahram Online
Wednesday 9 Feb 2011
Following the “Million Man" demonstrations and mass strikes that escalated across Egypt on Tuesday, a new wave of mass strikes and workers' sit-ins also spread on Wednesday.
Ahram Online has been receiving continuous reports of strikes breaking out in both public and private companies across the country, many of which are still being confirmed. At the time of publishing, the Center for Trade Union and Workers Services (CTUWS) had confirmed the following:
Read the full article and list of major labor strikes at:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/~/NewsContent/1/64/5306/Egypt/Politics-/Egypt-A-new-wave-of-workers-strikes-and-sitins.aspxThe above article appeared in today's English language editor of the big Cairo daily newspaper, Al Ahram! After facing a journalists revolt they are now providing factual news converage of the demonstration and strike wave in Egypt.
The New York Times today reported that "While state television has focused its coverage on episodes of violence that could spread fear among the wider Egyptian public and prompt calls for the restoration, Al Ahram’s coverage was a departure from its usual practice of avoiding reporting that might embarrass the government.
In the lobby of the newspaper, journalists on Wednesday were in open revolt against the newspaper’s management and editorial policies.
Some called their protest a microcosm of the Egyptian uprising, with young journalists leading demands for better working conditions and less biased coverage. “We want a voice,” said Sara Ramadan, 23, a sports reporter.
The turmoil at the newspaper has already changed editorial content, with the English-language online edition openly criticizing what it called “the warped and falsified coverage by state media” of the protests in Tahrir Square and elsewhere." BBI