Egypt’s General Federation of Trade Unions is marking Labour Day in a celebration held under the auspices of Field Marshal Hussein Tantawy, head of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.

The celebration was attended by Ahmed Hassan El-Sebaay, the minister of manpower, Abdallah Ghorab, minister of petroleum, Samir El-Sayad, minister of trade and industry, Mohsen El-Nomany, minister of local development, Ayman Abu-Hadid, minister of agriculture as well as Cairo’s governor, Abdel Qawy Khalifa and Ismail Fahmy, the acting president of the workers’ union.

During the celebrations, the memory of several of the revolution’s martyrs were honoured.

The Independent Federation of Trade Unions, however, is celebrating the day in Tahrir Square. 

Meanwhile, Essam Sharaf, Egypt’s interim prime minister, marked the day with a speech stressing the importance of social equality. Sharaf described social equality as one of the revolution’s main demands. He added that to accomplish the revolution’s demands the people should work with the government to help the country through a democratic transition which will guarantee all social backgrounds will have equal opportunities to express their demands. Sharaf also stressed that the government is working hard to rebuild the country’s economy, encourage investments and increase job opportunities.

The interim prime minister explained that the government’s current projects will include reforming the wage system by synchronising the minimum wage with the maximum wage and tying wages with productivity and merit, increasing trade union freedoms and increasing the role of small and medium enterprises.