Tunisia’s unions stayed independent where Egypt’s were state-captured, fueling later revolt.

Evidence

For a North African country in the age of neoliberalism and brutal dictatorships, Tunisia had a robust and autonomous set of labor unions in 2010. Unlike the Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF), which had been fully integrated with the state since the time of Nasser, the more independent Tunisian umbrella union (UGTT) still had some bite. The men at the very top got along with the government, but below that level, many union members were radical leftists. Tunisia even had a union of Unemployed Graduates, the kind of group that had only time on its hands and several bones to pick with the ruling class. — Vincent Bevins, If We Burn, 190