CAIRO: Train drivers will meet with Minister of Manpower Aisha Abdel Hady and Transport Minister Mohamed Lotfy Mansour next month to discuss their grievances. "A delegation of train drivers met Abdel Hady three days ago and she promised that a meeting would be held with the minister of transport to discuss our demands on Feb. 1 or 2, Essam Abdel Fatah, head of the League of Train Drivers, a trade union body, told Daily News Egypt. "Members of the Train Drivers Union and the Lleague will attend this meeting, Abdel Fatah added. On Tuesday Jan. 20, train drivers in Cairo and other parts of Egypt launched a strike in protest at the Egyptian National Railway s failure to uphold its promise to pay them the kilo allowance, a payment based on the number of kilometers traveled. Drivers ended the strike after a promise that a response to their demands would be issued 10 days subsequently. On Tuesday Jan. 27 - a week after the train drivers protest - signalmen, switch operators and crossing guardsmen launched a three-hour strike after the administration of the Egyptian National Railway (ENR) reneged on a promise made two days previously to meet and discuss their demands. The strike was only quelled after a promise was made to respond to workers demands within 48 hours. This response is expected to be given on Saturday.
