CAIRO: Hundreds of National Transportation Company workers on strike demonstrated outside the Egyptian parliament early on Saturday. The workers have cut the main Qasr al-Eini street in Cairo, performing a symbolic funeral for their colleague who passed away on Friday after days of a hunger strike. The workers' strike entered its 16th day over financial demands that have not been met and the “negligence of the ministry of transportation to their demands.” The workers demand an improvement to their base salary and bonuses, saying that the average salary of a bus driver is 380 Egyptian pounds ($65) per month, a small monthly income that according to many of the workers “is not enough to survive in Egypt.” The strike has reached 26 bus and mini-bus garages across the country, effecting millions of people who rely on public transportation, yet the ministry has refused to respond to the workers demands. The ministry said there will be no negotiations with the workers before the strike is suspended, which the workers refused. They said they will remain on strike until their demands are met. BM
