"The Tahrir Square occupation is to be suspended. We have to take Tahrir to the factories now."

Egypt protests continue in the factories
Egypt's striking workers won't entrust the transition to democracy to the generals who were the backbone of the dictatorship
By Hossam el-Hamalawy
Hossam el-Hamalawy is an Egyptian journalist from Cairo
February 14, 2011

From the first day of the January 25 uprising, the working class has been taking part in the protests. However, the workers were at first taking part as "demonstrators" and not necessarily as "workers" – meaning, they were not moving independently. The government had brought the economy to halt, not the protesters, with their curfews, and by shutting down the banks and businesses. It was a capitalist strike, aimed at terrorising the Egyptian people. Only when the government tried to bring the country back to "normal" on 8 February did the workers return to their factories, discuss the current situation and start to organise en masse, moving as an independent block.

These workers are not going home any time soon. They started striking because they couldn't feed their families any more. They have been emboldened by Mubarak's overthrow, and cannot go back to their children and tell them that the army has promised to bring them food and their rights in I don't know how many months. Many of the strikers have already started raising additional demands, including the right to establish free trade unions away from the corrupt, state-backed Egyptian Federation of Trade Unions.

On Saturday I started receiving news that thousands of public transport workers were staging protests in el-Gabal el-Ahmar. The temporary workers at Helwan Steel Mills are also protesting. The railway technicians continue to bring trains to a halt. Thousands of workers at the el-Hawamdiya sugar factory are protesting and oil workers announced a strike on Sunday over work conditions. Nearly every single sector in the Egyptian economy has witnessed either strikes or mass protests. Even sections of the police have joined in.

At this point, the Tahrir Square occupation is to be suspended. We have to take Tahrir to the factories now. As the revolution proceeds, an inevitable class polarisation will take place. We have to be vigilant. We hold the keys to the liberation of the entire region, not just Egypt. Onwards we must go, with a permanent revolution that will empower the people of this country with direct democracy from below.


Hossam el-Hamalawy

Read the full article at:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/feb/14/egypt-protests-democracy-generals

Egypt's Military Calls on Workers to End Strikes
By CHARLES LEVINSON, SUMMER SAID And MARGARET COKER
February 14, 2011

CAIRO—Egypt's military rulers Monday called on workers to halt labor strikes, warning that they threaten the economy's recovery from two weeks of paralyzing protests.

But the military stopped short of banning strikes, as many had expected it would, in an apparent attempt to avoid an authoritarian tone as it tries to reassure opposition leaders that its commitment to a democratic transition is genuine.

"Honorable Egyptians, see that these strikes in this crucial time lead to negative consequences," a military spokesman said on state television, reading from a statement dubbed "Communique Number 5."

"The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces calls on the citizens and the professional syndicates and labor unions to carry out their duties," the spokesman said. "We hope that everyone will create the right atmosphere to the country's affairs in this current period until we transfer leadership to a civilian-elected authority."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703584804576144180825342682.html?mod=googlenews_wsj


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With Mubarak Gone, Egyptian Army Moves to End Cairo Protests
Uncertainty Mounts as Military Takes Control, Discontent Spreads to Other Countries
By JIM SCIUTTO and HUMA KHAN
February 14, 2011


A little more than 48 hours after Egyptians toppled the government of Hosni Mubarak, the military has taken over the country's leadership and called for an end to the strikes. The military forced protesters and journalists off Tahrir, or Liberation, Square in Cairo, telling foreign reporters that only locals were allowed in the area.

A spokesman for the Armed Forces Supreme Council read a statement on television, its fifth so far, giving a not-so-gentle nudge to the people to get off the streets. He said the sit-ins and protests disrupt and stop the "wheels of production" and have negative repercussions on the national economy, protests create an environment suitable for irresponsible elements to perpetrate subversive operations, and the army hopes that all Egyptians will help create an adequate environment for the military to run the country's affairs until they are transferred to the legitimate civil authority.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/egypt-army-urges-people-end-strike-jordan-iran/story?id=12911345

Egypt 'faces wave of strikes'
(AFP)
February 14, 2011

CAIRO — The Egyptian political protests that toppled the regime of strongman Hosni Mubarak have given way to a nationwide "explosion" of pay strikes, a pressure group tracking industrial action told AFP on Monday.

Workers in banking, transport, oil, tourism, textiles, state-owned media and government bodies are striking to demand higher wages and better conditions, said Kamal Abbas of the Centre for Trade Union and Workers' Services.

"It's difficult to say exactly how many people are striking and where. Who isn't striking?" Abbas said. "In many places, workers want the removal of senior figures who are accused of corruption," Abbas said.

The salary gaps between directors and management is a major issue, while many workers are demanding benefits and legal protection, having worked on temporary contracts for years, he said.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jlVym0spGUDFo1vTf9EmPx7LGhbg?docId=CNG.9d00ea2df5d6129be7cac650dbbd7208.6f1

the government itself has not brought Egypt's tourism industry, other than the Red Sea resorts , to a halt which provides a substantial part of Egypt's income. UK Foreign Office still advises against all but essential travel so others probably still do the same.

Effect applies even more so to Tunisia whose tourist industry is now in dire straits despite the lifting of adverse travel advice.