Egypt: Strike! Strike! Strike!  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

This post is part of our special coverage of Egypt Protests 2011.
Hundreds of thousands of workers have gone on strike across Egypt today, and more are threatening to join the action tomorrow. Reports of strikes started making their way online yesterday, and netizens are now calling for a nationwide general strike, in solidarity with pro-democracy protests, now on their 16th day.
Workers from different industries are also calling for salary increments, allowances, better working conditions, and holding corrupt officials in the industries they are employed accountable for their wrong doings, says the Egyptian Centre for Revolutionary Socialism (Ar).
On his blog, Hossam El Hamalawy posts videos of some of the workers’ protests around Cairo.
Here we catch up with the action from the “leaders of the independent Union of Real Estate Tax Authority Employees, march from Galaa Street to join the Tahrir Square occupation, in solidarity with the revolution.”
In this post, El Hamalawy uploads a video which shows the telecommunication workers strike, as they gather in Ramsis to denounce their management:
The workers are chanting: “Thieves, thieves, thieves!”
Following are some reactions on the strikes from Twitter:
@DinaFergani: ..and let the civil strike begin. #jan25 #egypt
@AlshaheedJan25: Workers from several factories & public sector have gone on national strike.Thousands of protesters in Tahrir now. #jan25 #tahrir
@LaraABCNews: thousands of workers on strike in #Egypt, further crippling the economy. each day of waiting for reform comes at a high cost.
@deena_adel: The #Jan25 protests expanded even further today when thousands of workers & employees went on strike. #Egypt
@3arabawy: Railway technicians and maintenance #egyworkers on strike http://bit.ly/hr7fjx إضراب عمال ورش السكة الحديد يشل حركة القطارات #Jan25
@3arabawy: There are four military production companies in Helwan now on strike. #egyworkers #Jan25 #fb
@wael: public transport workers announce strike in support of revolution #jan25
@3arabawy: the railway technicians in Bani Suweif r on strike. #jan25
@3arabawy: public transportation workers in 3 garages r on strike. #jan25
@snaguib: Thousands of workers on strike in mahalla #jan25 #egypt
@jmayton: 6,000 Suez Canal company workers go on strike – http://bikyamasr.com/wordpress/?p=26380 #Jan25 #Egypt
@hindhassan: 5,000+ workers on strike in city of Suez.1000s others staged protests on company grounds in cities of Mahalla, Port Said & #Cairo #Jan25
@khadijapatel: There are strikes being reported right across #Egypt. Oil workers, postal workers, railway technicians; they are all on strike. #Jan25
@Omsy: State papers on strike, oil workers on strike… everyones on strike! Change is coming, Tah ya Masr #Jan25 #egyworkers #egypt
@marwame: AlJazeera reporting that Cairo's postal workers joining strike. #Egypt #jan25
@CurlyFatAngry: Journalists and media employees went on strike and joined the revolution cause they were told 2 falsify news you hear that #FoxNews? #Jan25
@Shanfaraa: Strikes spread in Egypt, now train workers have gone on strike. http://bit.ly/h8Q4eU #Jan25
@: #Egypt on strike… ! You asked for it #Mubarak…. #jan25
@cheppparty: #jan25 #egypt We are calling -ALL workers of Egypt to go immediatley on a general strike against government dictatorship led by the dictator
@ahmedelmasri: Now we are getting into the phase of NATIONWIDE strike #Egypt #Jan25
@egypt_watch: Unions strike all over #egypt, more to follow. http://bit.ly/hcZRRX All govt workers should strike and bring it down to its knees #jan25
@WarOnErrorDKos: Many worker groups going on strike in Egypt, joining the protestors. Postal, textile, etc. #jan25 The Tahrir protest is working! spreading
@hackneylad: Public transport workers to go on mass strike in Cairo tomorrow, pressure on the regime is mounting #Egypt #Tahrir #Jan25
@3arabawy: tomorrow Ghazl Mahalla #egyworkers will start a strike. #jan25
@lissnup: #Jan25 #Egypt You know it's a revolution when sending ppl back to work only results in thousands on strike
This post is part of our special coverage of Egypt Protests 2011.