WORKERS on 12 Egyptian newspapers and five TV channels have gone on strike for a day this week against the recently issued constitutional declaration and the draft constitution.
The newspapers did not print on Tuesday and the TV channels went off-air on Wednesday.
The draft constitution, which was passed on 30 November by the Islamist-dominated Constituent Assembly and is set to be voted on in a referendum on 15 December, does not include articles against the imprisonment of journalists in cases related to freedom of expression as demanded by journalists.
The Journalists Syndicate’s executive council had withdrawn its representatives from the Constituent Assembly in mid-November after its recommendations and suggestions were ignored by the assembly.
Later, the general assembly of the syndicate had threatened on 25 November to stage a strike against the constitutional declaration that president Mohamed Mursi issued on 23 November.
The newspapers that went on strike on Tuesday were: Al-Masry Al-Youm, Al-Watan, Al-Tahrir, Al-Wafd, Al-Youm 7, Al-Dostour, Al-Shorouk, Al-Sabah, Al-Ahaly, Al-Ahrar, Al-Fagr and Osbooa.
The TV channels that went on strike yesterday were: ONTV channels, CBC and Modern channels, Al-Hayat Channels and Dream TV.
On Monday, Al-Wafd newspaper, Al-Youm 7 newspaper, Al-Watan newspaper, Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper and Tahrir newspaper shared the same headline ‘No to dictatorship’ with an illustration showing a prisoner made of newspaper sitting in a dark cell.
Online media did not go on strike on Tuesday so that they could cover the newspaper strike and other protests against the drafting of the new constitution at the presidential palace
Ahram Arabic-language news website reporters decided to go on partial strike on Monday in solidarity with the media strike.
Ahead of the strike Ahram released a statement saying: ‘We announce, as the young reporters of Ahram Arabic portal, that on top of the disgraceful rejection of journalism in the new draft constitution and how Judge Hossam El-Gheriany, the head of Constituent Assembly, mocked journalists.
‘We decided to go on strike on Monday in solidarity with the right of the reader to get a free press, away from any pressure and in accordance with the decision of the Journalists’ Syndicate Council to go on strike to object to the repression of freedoms, the approval to confiscate newspapers and imprisonment of journalists in the new draft constitution.’
The reporters of Ahram Arabic news website, went on strike, with the exception of a single reporter who is keeping the portal updated.
Dozens of protesters arrived on Mirghany Street, near the presidential palace, on Tuesday afternoon to take part in a protest dubbed ‘The Final Warning’.
Protesters were unable to get near the palace itself due to a heavy security presence. Security troops and vehicles were deployed and streets close to the palace were blocked by razor wire.
One of the officers securing the palace prevented two ambulances from driving by.
The officer told Al-Masry Al-Youm that he was given orders not to allow vehicles to drive by or people to gather around the palace.
Meanwhile, the Freedom and Justice Party’s media adviser, Mourad Ali, preemptively laid responsibility for any violence that may occur outside the presidential palace during protests on Tuesday on the opposition.
‘We welcome protests anywhere, so long as they are peaceful without any form of violence or hindering work of state institutions,’ he told reporters.
‘We staged protests last Saturday. Millions took part. No cases of harassment or attacks on anyone or state buildings erupted.’
Ali laid responsibility on Constitution Party Chief Mohamed ElBaradei, Popular Current Head Hamdeen Sabbahi, former MP Amr Hamzawy and Wafd Party chief Al-Sayed al-Badawy for violence that could take place during the protests.
‘Like we shouldered responsibility of protests and succeeded in organising them, they should bear responsibility of protests they called for as well.’
Political groups had called earlier for protests on Tuesday in front of the presidential palace against the constitutional declaration issued by President Mohamed Mursi on 22 November.
Two marches were staged from the Nour and Rabaa al-Adaweya mosques to the presidential palace, while a sit-in in Tahrir Square continues.
Demonstrators gathered in Tahrir Square on Tuesday before marching. The demonstrations were sparked by the political crisis that resulted after the declaration, which protected the Shura Council and Constituent Assembly from being dissolved and made Mursi’s decisions unchallengeable.
Labour unions and workers rights organisations are decrying a newly decreed amendment to Egypt’s Mubarak-era trade union law, which threatens freedom of association and the right to organise independent and representative trade unions.
The Centre for Trade Union and Workers’ Services, the Egyptian Democratic Labour Congress and the Egyptian Federation of Independent Trade Unions have released statements regarding the amendment, which sets a mandatory retirement age for union leaders and grants the government the authority to appoint board members of unions to fill vacant seats.
By leaving the prior union law largely in place, the move by the Egyptian government effectively disallows recognition of the new, independent unions formed since the revolution, because the prior law allows for only a single labour union structure, a violation of international labour standards.
The amendment was signed the same day President Mursi issued the controversial constitutional declaration.
The independent unions of Egypt are also concerned about the latest draft of the new constitution which, among other things, does not guarantee freedom of association for workers or protect unions from outside interference.
Employees of the Egyptian airports company closed Terminal 2 in Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport on Monday, demanding higher salaries and purging the company of corruption.
Airport sources said arrivals were transferred to Terminal 1, which was congested with 100 arriving flights.
State-run Al-Ahram newspaper reported that dozens went on strike, but did not give exact figures.
The paper quoted Wael al-Maadawy, chairperson and CEO of the Egyptian Holding Company for Airport and Air Navigation, as saying that he would hold discussions with the striking workers over their demands to reach a settlement that would please all parties, and persuade the employees to resume work.
Though Egypt is renowned for pharaonic antiquities, its Red Sea beaches in particular draw many tourists.
The Sinai resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh is a main destination for beach tourism.
l The yellow Egyptian Trade Union Federation released a statement on Monday affirming its support for President Mohamed Mursi’s recent constitutional decree.
The statement was released after an urgent meeting was held by the representatives of different trade unions operating within the federation.
The statement released by the federation said what is happening in Egypt is not a conspiracy to disrupt the democratic process.
‘We therefore support and welcome the new constitutional decree by the legitimate elected president,’ the statement read.
Not every member of the federation supported the statement however.
The Head of the General Syndicate for Construction Workers and the Deputy Secretary General of the General Union of Egyptian Workers Syndicate, Abdel Monein El-Gamel, said he is completely against Mursi’s decree.
‘The president has given himself powers equal to that of a king,’ Monein El-Gamel said.
This decision, according to him, is against everything the people fought for during the revolution.
Monein El-Gamel said that the views held by syndicates represented within the Federation are varied and, due to each union’s specific interests, members could be found both in pro- and anti-Mursi protests.
‘Every syndicate has a different agenda and background,’ he said, ‘and in turn every member has their own demands.’
He stressed that the statement does not necessarily reflect the views and opinions held by every member or syndicate within the state-run federation.
The federation praised judges and their refusal to strike in protest, ‘putting the interest of the nation above all else,’ while also condemning ‘those who are demanding foreign intervention and are taking the path of violence and bloodshed.’
The statement was signed by the heads and representatives of all the syndicates present during the meeting, which included Fayez Hammouda, president of the Workers’ Union, and Abdul Maged, the head of the Teachers’ Union.
