Egyptian workers celebrate May Day

Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, May 1.

Red flags waved across Tahrir Square as thousands of Egyptian workers celebrated May Day in Cairo. Holding up Egyptian, Libyan, Syrian, Palestinian and Communist Party flags, the marchers chanted for “Social Justice.”

The countrywide explosion of strikes for higher wages, better working conditions and job security ever since former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was forced out in early February by massive protests was reflected at this militant rally.

Workers from factories across Egypt and from many unions, including the newly founded Federation of Independent Labor Unions, and various left parties marched around the square, carrying their banners and signs high. Political organizations represented included the Egyptian Socialist Party, Egyptian Communist Party, the liberal Ghad Party, the Revolutionary Socialists, the Muslim Brotherhood and the Workers’ Democratic Party.

Union representatives called for the formation of independent labor unions; a major increase in the monthly minimum wage, from 400 Egyptian pounds ($70) to 1200 Egyptian pounds ($200); and a salary cap set at 15 times the minimum wage. They also called for the trials of the corrupt and brutal Mubarak-appointed union leaders of the Egyptian General Federation of Trade Unions.