20110210
presstv
Egyptian employees, who have gone on a strike amid nationwide pro-democracy protests, have forced the police out of their way in the capital.

The strikers, composed mainly of lawyers and judges, amassed in front of a main palace in the city, said Press TV correspondent Jihan Hafiz from Cairo.

“Once they got to that palace, they were trying to get through. There's a police barricade. They actually broke through the police barricade and the Egyptian police fled the scene,” she said.

Tens of thousands of Egyptian employees have left workplaces to protest insufficient payment and join the popular revolution against the regime of three-decade-long President Hosni Mubarak.

Strikes were reported in cities on the north coast, including Alexandria, the northeastern seaport town of Suez as well as the Red Sea coast in the east.

“They're huge. They're happening all over the country, not just here in Cairo,” Hafiz said.

The anti-regime uprising, which is in its 17th straight day, has been fiercely confronted by Egyptian security forces. More than 300 people have lost their lives since the popular movements began on January 25, reports say.