Strike cripples Egyptian railways

Published April 7th, 2013 - 12:01 GMT
Egypt's railway workers have started a strike after staff rejected a ten per cent pay increase
Egypt's railway workers have started a strike after staff rejected a ten per cent pay increase

Egypt's railway workers started a strike on Sunday, bringing train movement across the country to an almost complete halt. Negotiations between the transport minister and workers reached a deadlock on Saturday.

"Most train drivers have rejected the results of the meeting with the minister," Hesham Rabeh, a workers' representative, told Al-Ahram Arabic news website.

Rabeh said the 10 percent pay rise offered by the minister was not enough and was very unsatisfactory to the workers.

Egyptian Railway Authority head Hussein Zakaria said negotiations were underway to end the strike.

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