Freedom for Public Transport Workers’ Leaders: Strikes Are a Legitimate Right Against Poverty and Hunger

Statement by the Revolutionary Socialists

The arrest of public transport workers’ leaders from their homes at dawn today, under the pretext of inciting strikes, reveals the regime’s desperate attempt to suppress growing labor protests against austerity measures and skyrocketing prices.

Just yesterday, 26 workers from the Alexandria Shipyard Company were referred to military trials, and ten union leaders from the International Ceramics Company in Menoufia were dismissed for participating in strikes. Today, five public transport workers’ leaders—Tarek El-Behery, Mohamed Abdel Khaleq, Ayman El-Salafi, Mohamed Hashem, and Tarek Youssef—were arrested and forcibly disappeared to unknown locations.
The demands of the approximately 40,000 public transport workers, which the Sisi regime has criminalized, are straightforward and just. They include:

1. Reinstating the Public Transport Authority under the Ministry of Transport.
2. Increasing production bonuses for drivers and collectors from 13% to 17%, similar to the allowances given to Alexandria’s transport workers.
3. Paying the 7% periodic raise guaranteed by law.
4. Issuing the 10% annual cost-of-living allowance to help offset inflation.
5. Removing the Head of the Central Department for Medical Affairs, who has failed to address workers’ needs.
These workers, who have announced their intention to strike tomorrow (Sunday), have a long history of activism. They played a key role in the protests that ousted Mubarak and continued to fight for justice during the military council’s rule, Morsi’s presidency, and Adly Mansour’s interim period.
Today, all political, labor, and union groups must come together to demand the immediate release of the detained workers’ leaders. Striking is a legal right that workers have fought hard to secure, and it remains a vital tool for achieving justice and protecting democracy.