Was The April 6th Strike a Success?

Was The April 6th Strike a Success?

Despite of threats to employees that their names will be send to the state security investigatiors if they didn’t show up for work on April 6th, there was a noticeable absence that day in several workplaces throughout the country.
 
Dr. Najlaa al-Ayyoubi, member of the frozen Labour Party, told Ikhwanweb that April 6th strike succeeded by 80%


“there were very few people and cars on the streets; people remained at home and did not shop that day to protest the rocketing prices, which was an indication of the overwhelming public discontent”.
 
The government, however, said the strike failed, but pictures taken by reporters that day tell a different story. There are also allegations by the opposition that the government used thugs to destroy properties to tarnish the image of the strike, which was documented in several reports.
 
Impeded work movement
 
Regarding the evaluation of the strike, Dr. Abdul-Haleem Qandeel, spokesperson of Kefaya (Enough) Movement, said that Tahrir complex, which houses more than 30,000 employees, reported 80% record high absences despite of the threats by the Ministry of Interior.
 
Qandeel thanked the security forces for unintentionally contributing to the success of the strike by frightening civilians and chasing demonstrators on the streets, to the point that many of them preferred to remain home for safty. Dr. Yahia al-Jamal, the constitutional jurist, expressed his pleasure at the success of the strike.
 
Bolgger Kareem al-Buhairi, employee at al-Mahalla Misr Weaving and Spinning Company, commented on the security forces’ response to the strike saying “security forces aborted the strike of 20,000 workers at the company by deploying hundreds of security men wearing civilian clothes at the company’s factories. They occupied the inside and outside the factory; workers were taken and forced to work that day”. He indicated that many workers couldn”t get to their jobs because of the intensive security presence.
 
Students’ strike
 
At Cairo University, a female student from Haqi (My Right) Movement said that the strike had a great effect and predicted it will be a start for positivism and change. she described the university campus that day as the Ministry of Interior campus due to huge number of security forces wearing civilian clothes within the campus.
 
Security siege around Jamila Ismails’ house
 
Security forces surrounded the house of Jamila Ismail, wife of Ayman Nour, the jailed head of al-Ghad Party, to prevent her from participating in pro-strike demos.


“we live in a detective tyrannical state; however we will not be terrorized”, she said, adding that strike is a good start for many Egyptians  


March 9th Movement stated that 80% of Cairo university students and a number of professors participated in the strike by not showing up for classes that day. Helwan University reported 70% absence rate. The majority of Kindergarten schools were closed in Cairo and 60% of the preliminary students did not go to classes.
 
Wikipedia commented on the strike and placed it among the important events of the day and described it as “the Egyptians Strike against Prices and corruption”.