Tunisia: Five parties support the strike of the Tunisian General Labour Union

Five Tunisian parties expressed, Thursday, their support for the general strike carried out by the “Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT)”.

This came in a joint statement by the “The Democratic Current”, “The Democratic Forum for Labour and Liberties”, “The Republican Party”, the “Democratic Modernist Pole”, and the “Workers Party”, which was reviewed by the Anadolu Agency reporter.

The statement said that the five parties “express their support for the general strike carried out by the officials of the public sector in an implementation of the decision of the UGTT’s administrative body (the largest operational organisation) in defence of their economic and social rights and to respond to the authority’s continued disregard of their legitimate demands.”

The statement held “the government of (President) Kais Saied fully responsibility for the continued deterioration of the living conditions of the majority of Tunisians, besides the high rise in prices and the scarcity of many essential items that are popularly widespread consumed.”

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The statement condemned “the government’s insistence to go on towards lifting subsidies on basic materials, freezing wages and stopping assignments in the public positions, which will exacerbate the social crisis especially with the absence of serious and effective national solutions to unemployment, poverty and low wages and incomes.”

The statement denounced what it considered “despicable defamation campaigns and accusing of treason launched by suspected pages against the UGTT and its structures.”

It is noteworthy that Facebook pages, allegedly affiliated with the supporters of President Kais Saied, published insults against the UGTT and its leaders due to the general strike.

On Thursday, Tunisia witnessed a strike in the public sector, which was called by the UGTT, to demand an improvement in employees’ conditions.

According to the reporter of the Anadolu Agency, the strike included 159 public institutions involving seaports and airports, and will last for one day under the supervision of the UGTT (the largest trade union organisation in the country).

Tunisia is suffering from the worst economic crisis since its independence in the fifties of the last century due to the political instability since the 2011 revolution and the repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic, amid demands for economic reform.

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The UGTT calls on the Tunisian government to increase the wages of employees in the public sector, enhance their purchasing power and other social demands.

The UGTT denies that the strike has political purposes amid a crisis that the country has witnessed since 25 July, 2021, when President Kais Saied began to impose exceptional measures including dismissing the government, the dissolution of the Parliament and the Supreme Judicial Council and other measures.

Tunisian forces consider these measures as a “coup against the Constitution”, while other forces see them as a “correction of the course of the 2011 revolution”, which toppled the former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, 1987-2011.