A Day of Strikes in Egypt

As tree branches trembled, shutters flapped, and the sky turned sooty yellow, signaling the approach of yet another spring sandstorm, an uncharacteristic hush lay over the streets of downtown Cairo. For the last week, organizers from several prominent opposition parties have been using a covert campaign of emails and Facebook postings, text messages and word of mouth, to call on the Egyptian public to take a stand against the harsh circumstances of life here and a government that seems either unwilling or unable to improve them.

"God willing, we will make a strike on the 6th of April as a protest against the excessive increase in prices and an increase in wages that does not keep pace with it...," reads the opening of a lengthy eight-article manifesto in Arabic on a Facebook page belonging to one of the organizers. Invitations to view the page were sent to more than 3,100 people.

In Cairo today, the question on everyone's mind was: Was anything going to happen? The government certainly seemed to think so, or at least, it wasn't taking any chances. Trucks overflowing with black-clad soldiers sat parked at every major intersection near the country's central government headquarters, the Mugamma', while police in riot gear were stationed three-deep in nearby Tahrir Square.

Among ordinary Egyptians, who often talk longingly of change but shy away from any action that could endanger them or their families, nerves were on edge. Some people refused to leave their homes, while others played it safe by keeping well away from the volatile city center. In 1977, at least seventy people were killed and the Shepheard's Hotel burned to the ground during three days of riots after President Sadat slashed subsidies on bread and other basic commodities.





Now and in 1977, bread is a hot-button issue in Egypt.







Media coverage about the nature and the extent of the strikes is conflicting. The Associated Press reported that several thousand workers in the northern industrial town of Mahalla al-Kobra, home to the nation's largest textile factory and the site of a week-long sit-in to protest low wages last fall, attacked police with bricks, leading to at least fifty arrests. In Cairo, according to the AP, students at two major public universities showed their solidarity by skipping classes and shouting slogans in support of the workers. The Emirates-based Gulf News, however, called today's strikes "lackluster" and quoted sources saying that workers at the factory in Mahalla al-Kobra scrapped plans to protest after reaching a deal with managers.

By nightfall, life in downtown Cairo had returned to normal. Merchants whose shops were shuttered either in protest or in fear had reopened for business, and the flow of traffic had resumed its usual frenetic pace. As always seems to be the case here, nothing had changed. A few arrests and broken bones later, Egypt is back to where it started: poor, unhappy, and seemingly unable to do anything about it.