The irony of this video was too much for me to let it go without comment. In a country and region with little experience in unions or for that matter protest of any kind that doesn’t involve firearms, these workers take rocks, sticks, and any object they can find to beat on the barricades that are designed to hold them back. The resulting noise is how they are advancing their cause – clever on their part!

http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/entry/6152/

A brief excerpt from the accompanying article,

Joel Beinin, a Stanford University professor, describes it as “the largest modern labor movement in Egypt and the largest social movement in the Arab world since World War II.” But for the average Egyptian it’s a guessing game whether it will have any lasting effects or vanish with a handful of deals.
What has brought the workers’ blood to a boil is less of a mystery.
A much-detailed report released earlier this year by the AFL-CIO’s Solidarity Center on the roots of the unrest points to the steady growth in unemployment for average workers and deteriorating conditions for those struggling by on low wages. Beinin, a leading expert on Egyptian labor, was the major writer.
Life is, indeed, dire for some Egyptians.
Unchanged since 1984, the minimum wage in Egypt today is about $7 a month.

Studies show that Collective Bargaining and a viable union movement are one of the hallmarks of a First World country and without exception do not exist in Third World nations. Let’s hope these Egyptian workers are successful and workers rights rise to the forefront in the Arab region. Enjoy the video!