The Anti-Coup Alliance called on workers to join the “the uprising of the poor”, claiming it has become clear for workers that the “military rule continues to abduct and terrorise labour leaders struggling for workers’ rights”.
The Anti-Coup Alliance is a coalition consisting of parties and organisations that support former president Mohamed Morsi, who was ousted from power in July 2013 by then-defence minister – now President – Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, in what the alliance sees as a coup.
The call on workers to protest, issued in a Sunday statement, seeks to draw attention to the economic ills facing many Egyptians. The alliance said that “military generals never cared for the workers, the poor or the homeland, nor the army for that matter.”
Ever since Morsi’s ouster in July 2013, the alliance has regularly organised protests in objection. In a statement last week, it launched the “revolution until victory week”. It called for a partial strike on 30 August in preparation for a civil disobedience and called on youth to continue their revolutionary momentum even after one protester died after clashes with security forces.
Clashes between protesters and security forces have resulted in at least 16,000 arrests, as noted by Amnesty International in July.
According to state-owned media outlet Al-Ahram, last Friday alone saw 31 people arrested in demonstrations throughout Egypt.
