According to Ahram Online, workers at Egypt's largest factory ended a strike and went back to work on Sunday 20th.
Faisal Naousha, one of the leaders of the walkout at Misr Spinning and Weaving, said the factory was running again after the strikers' main demands were met.
Around 15,000 workers from the plant which employs 24,000 people in the Nile Delta city of Al-Mahalla Al-Kubra, 100 kilometres (60 miles) north of Cairo went on strike last week.
"We ended the strike, the factory is working. Our demands were met," including a 25 per cent increase in wages and the dismissal of a manager involved in corruption, Naousha said.
Misr Spinning and Weaving is the largest plant in the Egyptian textile industry, which employs 48 per cent of the nation's total workforce, according to the Center for Trade Union and Workers' Services.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/5984/Egypt/Politics-/Strike-ends-in-Egypts-largest-factory-in-Mahallah.aspx.
Reuters reports (20 February) on some other returns to work, and continuing disputes:
Banks opened on Sunday after a week-long closure as Egypt's economy, damaged by the political turmoil caused by the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak and subsequent labor protests, struggled to get back on its feet.
Following are some details of the return to work and pockets of protest:
* The central banks said that state and private banks were open.
* About 70 employees were demonstrating in front of the head office of the Omar Effendi department store chain in central Cairo demanding that the company be renationalized.
* Protesters at Arab Contractors were demanding permanent contracts, higher pay and better working conditions.
* The Egyptian Museum in Cairo was open and there were a few dozen visitors looking at its priceless artifacts.
* The famous pyramids at Giza were open to tourists.
* Work at two state textile companies resumed on Sunday after their demands for higher wages and the resignation of company officials were met, the official MENA news agency said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/20/us-egypt-work-idUSTRE71J16D20110220
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