Stirring up a hornet's nest? Striking workers to have pay docked

Striking workers played a crucial role in the revolution. Are authorities stirring up a hornet's nest by docking their pay after industrial action?

Mona Mostafa, head of the Cairo Transportation Authority (CTA), said Monday that striking transport workers would have their pay docked in line with a prime ministerial decision.

"Workers who carried out their professional responsibilities and did their jobs won't be treated the same as those who have effectively crippled work and caused financial losses, compounding the financial burdens of the citizenry," Mostafa said in a Monday press statement.

Cairo's public transportation workers suspended a weeklong partial strike on Sunday after being told that their demands for an administrative shake-up would be considered.

On 15 September, a handful of bus depots in the capital suspended operations, with workers demanding that the Cairo Transportation Authority (CTA) be uncoupled from the governorate administration and be attached instead to the transport ministry – a move, workers say, that would serve to raise both their salaries and bonuses.