At time of writing, 4,000 workers in Helwan’s steel mills, south of Cairo, are on strike over pay and claims of corruption among its state management.
Strikes have occurred since the military coup, such as the mass strikes over national minimum wage in February 2014, but they are unlikely to cross over from the economic realm to political street mobilizations soon.
In a time of retreat, those revolutionaries still outside of jail cells must choose their battles carefully. Organising street protests is suicidal in the current climate and such attempts only boost the prison population.
Our limited resources should be solely devoted, during this period of retreat, to cementing what is left of the networks we have built, supporting those held in prison, and trying our best to connect with those economic struggles.
We are awaiting a change in the tide.