Public Transport Authority (PTA) employees in Cairo suspended their strike on Tuesday after meeting with Egypt's manpower minister, who promised to respond to their demands. The employees began the strike last week after management failed to meet their demands, said Mohamed Abdel Sattar Ali, secretary general at the Independent Union of Public Transport Workers. The protesters demanded increased pay, improved working conditions and the sacking of PTA leaders who they say are corrupt. On Tuesday morning, Cairo's traffic became somewhat chaotic after public bus drivers and ticket collectors joined the strike. Bus drivers and collectors make up nearly half of the transport sector's workforce in Cairo. The strike included some 27 PTA bus garages, and 23 employees from the PTA bus garages in the Imbaba and Mathalat districts went on hunger strikes. State-owned public transport buses are the most widespread and cheapest means of transport in Cairo due to their subsidized prices. Translated from the Arabic Edition
