EGYPT National Railway director Hussein Zakariya said he has taken legal action against striking train drivers, referring them to the Administrative Prosecution.
He said in statements on Sunday, reported by state-run news agency MENA, that the “instigators” behind the strike would also be referred to the Public Prosecution.
Train movement across Egypt has stopped entirely as drivers declared a general strike condemning Transport Minister Hatem Abdel Latif’s failure to yield to their demands concerning bonus increases.
An independent syndicate for railway workers had expressed solidarity with the drivers’ demands to further raise journey-related allowances and overtime bonuses.
They rejected the minister’s recent offer for a ten per cent increase starting in May.
Zakariya earlier told state-run MENA news agency that the drivers had started a strike covering Upper and Lower Egypt regions.
The strike caused a complete paralysis to the railway movement, Zakariya said, noting that trains have been replaced with buses at some cities such as, Tanta, Gharbiya.
Zakariya had added that negotiations are underway with drivers.
He said he convened on Saturday with the ministers of transport, manpower, the head Egyptian Federation of Trade Unions, and a number of drivers and conductors where the minister made the offer rejected by the workers.
He noted that the workers were offered a monthly meeting to discuss their problems and to be paid for overtime.
The workers had declared they would not wait for a panel formed by the transport minister to declare a new bonus scheme.
Meanwhile, protests marking the fifth anniversary of a historic strike in Mahalla left 46 people injured across Egypt on Saturday.
Forty were injured in Cairo and six more in Fayoum and El-Gharbiya, the health ministry announced.
The protests were organised by the April 6 Youth Movement which was founded to support textile workers in Mahalla who began a strike on 6th April 2008.
The Constitution Party, the Alliance of Revolutionary Forces, and the Free Egyptians Party joined the protests which also condemned the policies of President Mohamed Mursi.
Police began firing teargas at protesters late Saturday evening from inside the High Court in Cairo after protesters gathered at the building, banged on the door and set off fireworks.
Clashes at the court had subdued by early Sunday.
On Saturday, the April 6 Youth Movement, a leading force behind the 2011 revolution and a powerful actor on the political scene since, commemorated the fifth anniversary of a historic strike in the city of Mahalla with anti-government protests in Cairo and a number of other Egyptian governorates.
The initially peaceful situation in Cairo deteriorated when security forces inside the High Court building fired teargas volleys at the crowds gathered outside.
The April 6 Youth Movement, which was founded in 2008 to support striking textile workers in the Delta industrial centre of Mahalla, had announced earlier in the week that it would celebrate the anniversary with protests against the government of Mohamed Mursi, whose members argued had failed to deliver on the promises of the revolution.
‘We supported President Mursi when he ran for presidency. Now, after he issued his constitutional declaration, rammed through a new constitution and failed to meet the goals of the revolution we have joined the ranks of the opposition,’ said Ahmed Maher, co-founder of the April 6 Youth Movement.
Particular anger was focused on the interior ministry, which has been a repeated target of April 6’s anger in recent weeks.
Other opposition parties, including the Constitution Party, the Strong Egypt Party, Revolutionary Socialists and the Free Egyptians Party, joined in the call for anti-government protests, and banners of their parties were evident on Saturday at the marches.
In the Nile Delta, Gharbiya, Beheira and Sharqiya Governorates witnessed several marches on Saturday against President Mohamed Mursi and the Muslim Brotherhood’s alleged interference in policy-making.
Protesters also demanded the dismissal of Prime Minister Hesham Qandil and Prosecutor General Talaat Abdallah.
In Gharbiya, youth movements and revolutionary forces marched in Mahalla to mark the fifth anniversary of a labour protest there.
Demonstrators chanted ‘from Mahalla to Mansoura, down with the banned group’ in reference to the Brotherhood, as well as ‘revolutionaries made it,’ in reference to the 25 January revolution.
Protesters also chanted ‘blood for blood, bullets for bullets, we will not chant “peaceful” anymore’ and ‘killers, assassins, they killed our brothers in the name of religion.’
Hundreds of April 6 members also marched in Tanta, chanting similar slogans.
Four main marches took place in Cairo, starting in the districts of Sayyeda Zeinab, Shubra, Mohandeseen and Imbaba. Numbers were low, with turnouts reaching around a thousand at their highest.
All four marches headed for the office of embattled Prosecutor-General Talaat Abdullah. Abdullah, who was appointed by President Mursi, has come under fire from many opposition figures in recent weeks after a wave of pre-trial detentions of protesters and arrests of well-known activists and media figures.
Anger at those perceived as supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood was visible, as a Qatari flag was burned at the Mohandeseen rally, and an Al Jazeera television channel van was greeted with hostility at the march from Shubra.
Despite the anger, a celebratory and peaceful atmosphere seemed to dominate at the Cairo rallies as the protesters made their way to the High Court in downtown Cairo.
Residents in the upscale district of Mohandeseen cheered and waved flags from their balconies as protesters went past.
Marches passed other key hotspots, such as the Maspero state television and radio building in central Cairo without incident.
However, at night, as the rallies descended on the High Court where the prosecutor-general’s office is located, familiar scenes emerged.
Teargas was fired from inside the court building at the loud but peaceful rallies gathered outside, who were chanting against the Brotherhood and demanding the resignation of the prosecutor-general.
As the night wore on, security forces continued to fire intense teargas volleys at protesters, who rallied in nearby streets and continued to press towards the High Court.
The April 6 Youth Movement issued a statement late on Saturday night condemning the country’s security forces’ firing of teargas.
‘The regime’s ministry of interior respond to chants with teargas and birdshot,’ read the statement published on the movement’s official Facebook page.
The movement further accused the ministry of interior of ‘prostituting’ for every Egyptian regime.
Official ministry of health figures put the number of injured at 10pm on Saturday at eight, although the number looked set to rise as intermittent clashes between a few hundred protesters and security sources continued.
Police forces attempted to storm the Lawyers Syndicate late Saturday night.
The syndicate is located near the High Court where clashes had been taking place between security forces and anti-government demonstrators since Saturday evening.
The head of the north Cairo division of the lawyers syndicate, Mohamed Osman, told the privately owned ONtv satellite channel that the head of the general syndicate, Sameh Ashour, had opened the syndicate headquarters earlier in the evening for the injured to receive treatment.
Osman added he held the interior minister responsible for the attack.
Prosecutor-general, Talaat Abdullah, who was appointed by Mursi last November, has been criticised by opposition forces of serving the interests of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Tens of anti-government protesters have been facing prosecution since Abdullah’s appointment including several members of the April 6 movement.
Tensions between lawyers and the interior ministry have escalated after the arrest late last month of several lawyers who were attempting to represent detained anti-government protesters in a police station in Alexandria.
Following the incident, the Alexandria Lawyers Syndicate announced their decision not to represent policemen.
