A hunger strike by three members of the Port Said Independent Health Union has entered its 12th day.

Union leader Dr Safwat Abdel-Kerim, Dr Tamim Mohamed, and technician Essam Abdel Barry began their action on 23 May in protest at "massive corruption" at the Health Insurance Authority (HIA) in Port Said.

In late April, Abdel-Kerim staged a hunger strike which was later called off when the HIA head promised to carry out reforms.

The hunger strikers claim the authorities have turned a blind eye to documentary evidence of endemic financial, administrative and legal corruption at the HIA's Port Said office, which has damaged local residents as well as union members.

They are demanding better services for the public and the removal of the heads of the HIA and its Port Said office.

They also demand an end to the harassment of union members by management, including frequent investigations and threats of the dismissal.

Labour activism and independent unions were stifled during the Mubarak era, something workers say has continued in post-revolution Egypt.

Since the 2011 ouster of autocratic president Mubarak, hundreds of independent labour unions have sprung up, challenging the state-sponsored Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF).

Several employees at the HIA office in Port Said on Thursday conducted a brief strike in support its under-fire head, Morhaf El-Mougy.

On Sunday, union members, HIA employees, Revolutionary Socialists and several independent activists staged a protest in solidarity with the hunger strikers outside the HIA headquarters in Port Said.