CAIRO - Thousands of Egyptian workers went on strike yesterday to demand better compensation, placing more pressure on a Government buckling under massive protests calling for the ouster of long-serving President Hosni Mubarak. Various agencies launched labour strikes nationwide, including employees in the transport, oil, railway and telecommunication industries. "About 2,000 workers are on strike in the petroleum sector," said Hamdi Abdel Aziz, a spokesman for the Ministry of Oil. "They are calling for better compensation and transparency in executive salaries," the spokesman said. Employees of the National Railway Authority, meanwhile, called for longer contracts, prompting their seniors to meet with them and pledge to extend their contracts. "Some are staying away from work," said Moustafa Qinawi, the head of the Railway Authority. Bus drivers and other public transportation employees went on strike as spreading labour unrest added momentum to the mass protests centred in Al Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo. Ali Fatouh, a bus driver in Cairo, said buses were locked in the garages and won't be moved "until we achieve our demands", which include pay rise. According to him, organisers are calling on all 62,000 transportation employees to participate in the strike. Some buses were still seen on the streets and it was not immediately clear how widespread the strike was. More than 6,000 disaffected workers demonstrated for the second day against low wages and poor conditions at five companies owned by the Suez Canal Authority, a major component of the Egyptian economy. Two thousand textile workers demonstrated in the coastal city of Suez, while thousands, hurt by the collapse of the tourism industry, held protests in Luxor in Upper Egypt. Hundreds of slum dwellers in the Suez Canal town of Port Said Wednesday set fire to parts of the Governor's headquarters, angry over the lack of housing. Newly appointed Vice President Omar Suleiman has said the Government would not tolerate prolonged anti-Government protests in Al Tahrir Square. He warned this week activists not to attempt more civil disobedience, calling it "extremely dangerous". Government officials have portrayed the imminent threat of chaos, if the octogenarian president ends his 30 years of rule by stepping down right away. Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit Wednesday warned of military intervention if that were to occur. "Do we want the Armed Forces to assume the responsibility of stabilising the nation through imposing martial law, and the army in the streets?" Abul Gheit said on PBS' "NewsHour". Up until now, the military has pledged not to use force against the protesters who have occupied Al Tahrir Square for more than two weeks now and whose tactics have broadened to the establishment of a fresh encampment outside the Parliament and the headquarters of the Cabinet. But it has also deployed tanks and reinforcements across the city, setting up a narrow access point to Al Tahrir Square that forces would-be protesters into single file after they stand in long lines to enter. Chairman of the Press Syndicate Makram Mohamed said he would go on “an open holiday” after having been severely criticised from his colleagues for expressing support to the embattled President Hosni Mubarak. “Despite my poor health, I was ready to attend the meeting of the board of the Syndicate (yesterday) hadn't I been sure that it would be dominated by intellectual terrorism. I can't take it any longer,” he added in his open letter, according to the official Middle East News Agency.
