I asked him what I had to do to get a strike call, and he tossed me for it.
But many business were left with fewer people working than usual because thousands of employees did heed the strike call.
Some 20,000 policemen were ordered into the streets to protect workers who defied the strike call.
Many civil servants and other workers left their jobs in response to a strike call, and students walked out of classes.
A substantial number of union workers refused their stewards' strike call altogether.
The strike call received massive support among the working class.
With the strike call, it was not immediately clear whether the two sides still planned to meet.
He estimated that 98 percent of the extras had honored the strike call.
Street vendors normally remain unaffected by general strike calls and do business all year around.
A few minutes later the drivers drove off to begin a day's work, despite the strike call.