20110619
Xinhua
CAIRO, June 18 (Xinhua) -- Workers from different companies affiliated to Egypt's Suez Canal Authority attempted to storm the authority's main building on Saturday, but were stopped by the military forces.

The workers tried to storm the building located in Ismailia after Suez Canal Authority Chairman Ahmed Fadel did not fulfill the wage increment pledges he made in April, the state MENA news agency reported.

Thousands of workers in several Suez Canal Authority companies this week resumed a strike they had suspended earlier, after the deadline to meet their demands including higher wages and legal changes to the companies' status.

Nearly 2,000 angry workers called for the intervention of the ruling Supreme Military Council to sack Fadel on Saturday, saying Fadel is procrastinating in the implementation of an agreement he signed with workers' representatives and the Minister of Manpower and Immigration Ahmed Hassan El-Borai to improve their conditions. The agreement signed in April 19 was supposed to be implemented on June 1.

However, navigation in the waterway of the canal was not affected by the strike as 60 ships carrying 3 million tons transited the canal Saturday, according to MENA.

As an strategic international waterway, the canal is a vital source of foreign currency for Egypt, along with tourism, oil and gas exports and remittances from Egyptians living abroad