November 9—Some 40,000 construction workers in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), have been on strike since November 1 in a revolt over brutal working conditions and low and delayed pay. Shown above are strikers on their apartment balconies in the Sonapur labor camp, on the city’s outskirts. The workers, who receive between $109 and $163 a month, are demanding a $55 raise. The immigrant workforce, the majority from India and other South Asian countries, are employed by Arabtec, Dubai’s largest construction company. Strikers have stood up to government threats to deport them. Strikes are illegal in the UAE, which relies on immigrants for most industrial and service jobs.

—DOUG NELSON