Egypt becomes more ungovernable as workers strike

Feb. 9 reports from Cairo say there are growing numbers of Egyptian workers who have gone out on strike all over the country, as the struggle to oust the despised, U.S.-backed Mubarak regime intensifies.

Among the many taking to the streets are: workers from the Ministry of Health near Tahrir Square; 6,000 workers at five service companies owned by the Suez Canal Authority, who organized a sit-down; 2,000 textile workers; more than 1,500 striking workers at a factory in Mahalla, who blocked roads; more than 2,000 workers from the Sigma pharmaceutical company in Quesna; and 5,000 unemployed youth who took over a government building in Aswan, demanding the dismissal of the governor.