Tunisia’s Labor Union Calls for Strike over Wage Hike

Hundreds of thousands of civil servants took to the streets of Tunisia Thursday to demand a wage hike. (Reuters)
Hundreds of thousands of civil servants took to the streets of Tunisia Thursday to demand a wage hike. (Reuters)
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Tunisia’s Labor Union Calls for Strike over Wage Hike

Hundreds of thousands of civil servants took to the streets of Tunisia Thursday to demand a wage hike. (Reuters)
Hundreds of thousands of civil servants took to the streets of Tunisia Thursday to demand a wage hike. (Reuters)

The Tunisian General Labor Union (UGTT) called on Saturday for a national strike in January to demand a wage hike.

The call was made two days after some 650,000 public sector workers went on strike and thousands joined protests across Tunisia over the government’s refusal to raise wages.

Prime Minister Youssef Chahed said earlier on Saturday that any agreement must take into account the public finances.

"There is a real problem in the decline in purchasing power and high inflation and the decline of public services. These will be our priorities in the next period," Chahed told parliament.

The government had said it does not have the money to pay for the increases strikers want, worth about 2 billion Tunisian dinars ($690 million) in total.

Under pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and a deepening political crisis, Chahed is battling to cut the budget deficit to about 4.9 percent of GDP this year and 3.9 percent in 2019 from 6.2 percent last year.

His unpopular reforms include cuts to the public sector, state companies and fuel subsidies.

Raising the pressure on the government the UGTT Union called for a nationwide strike that includes public employees and state companies on January 17.

The union is demanding 673,000 state employees receive salary bumps equal to those granted this year to public companies, which range from 15 to 30 euros ($17-34) a month.

Civil servants represent a sixth of Tunisia's workforce and Thursday's strike, the widest of its kind since 2013, marked their first walkout over wages in decades, according to the UGTT.

Donors keeping Tunisia afloat have called on the government to control civil service salaries to avoid pushing up the public deficit.

The North African country is seen as having had a relatively smooth democratic transition since the January 14, 2011 toppling of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali after 23 years in power.

At the same time price hikes, fueled in particular by the fall of the Tunisian dinar, combined with tax increases and stubborn unemployment have spurred social discontent that escalated into riots across several cities in January.

In 2016, the IMF granted the North African country a 2.4-billion-euro loan over the span of four years in exchange for a promise to carry out economic reforms.

In recent months, political life in Tunisia has been paralyzed by power struggles ahead of presidential elections set for 2019.



US Defers Removal of Some Lebanese, Citing Israel-Hezbollah Tensions

Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
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US Defers Removal of Some Lebanese, Citing Israel-Hezbollah Tensions

Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)

The United States is deferring the removal of certain Lebanese citizens from the country, President Joe Biden said on Friday, citing humanitarian conditions in southern Lebanon amid tensions between Israel and Hezbollah.

The deferred designation, which lasts 18 months, allows Lebanese citizens to remain in the country with the right to work, according to a memorandum Biden sent to the Department of Homeland Security.

"Humanitarian conditions in southern Lebanon have significantly deteriorated due to tensions between Hezbollah and Israel," Biden said in the memo.

"While I remain focused on de-escalating the situation and improving humanitarian conditions, many civilians remain in danger; therefore, I am directing the deferral of removal of certain Lebanese nationals who are present in the United States."

Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have been trading fire since Hezbollah announced a "support front" with Palestinians shortly after its ally Hamas attacked southern Israeli border communities on Oct. 7, triggering Israel's military assault in Gaza.

The fighting in Lebanon has killed more than 100 civilians and more than 300 Hezbollah fighters, according to a Reuters tally, and led to levels of destruction in Lebanese border towns and villages not seen since the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war.

On the Israeli side, 10 Israeli civilians, a foreign agricultural worker and 20 Israeli soldiers have been killed. Tens of thousands have been evacuated from both sides of the border.