Focus in Egypt Shifts to the Suez Canal

Just as you thought the protests in Egypt were going to pass, this happens.

Suez Canal Company workers from the cities of Suez, Port Said, and Ismailia began an open-ended sit in today. Disruptions to shipping movements, as well as disastrous economic losses, are expected if the strike continues. Over 6000 protesters have agreed that they will not go home today once their shift is over and will continue their sit-in in front of the company's headquarters until their demands are met. They are protesting against poor wages and deteriorating health and working conditions.

It is both political because it is part of the broader protests throughout the country, but the distinction is the workers have a specific set of objectives making the protest a legitimate labor issue.

A few days of this and the European markets are going to get very loud in a hurry, with the potential to hit some Europeans in the wallet rather quickly. It's very smart timing by the Suez workers, maximum attention during a period of heightened interest and concern.

An interesting thing to watch for is to see how long any strike lasts, because if ships start loitering on both sides of the Suez waiting to get through, a bottleneck in one of the worlds most important choke point can stack up quickly.

For the record, the Enterprise Carrier Strike Group is still in the Med. I don't see a scenario where the strike group crosses the Suez during a worker strike.