Tunisia’s powerful UGTT trade union confederation on Tuesday announced it would be observing a nationwide public sector strike on June 16 to protest against soaring inflation and prevent the privatization of major state-owned companies, reported Africa News.
In a statement, the union accused Tunisia’s President Kais Saied of undermining the principles of negotiation and reneging on previous agreements, during a time when the country is facing continuous price rises And the inflation reached a record level of 7.5 percent in April, from 7.2 percent in March.
The UGTT said that all the staff members of the 159 institutions and public enterprises will cease work in order to obtain immediate negotiations to restore Tunisians’ purchasing power. The union is demanding guarantees that public companies will not be privatized.
Tunisia is currently going through its worst financial crisis and is seeking a $4 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) seen as necessary to ward off national bankruptcy, in exchange for unpopular reforms, including food and energy subsidies cuts and wage freezes.
Tunisia’s government has submitted a reform plan to the IMF that includes a freeze on the civil service wage bill, a gradual reduction of some state subsidies, and a restructuring of state-owned enterprises. The IMF, however, wants these promises to be supported by the UGTT to ensure their implementation.
On Monday, the rating agency Fitch deplored that tensions between the government and the UGTT were holding up negotiations with the IMF. It said that it was very difficult to adopt political and economic reforms without the UGTT trade union’s support.
The UGTT strike will present the biggest challenge yet to Tunisia’s President after his seizure of broad powers and moves to one-man rule last July. Last week, the UGTT announced its refusal to participate in a national dialogue process initiated by Mr. Saied, which excludes political parties.
