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Tunisia Government, Labor Union Fail to Agree on Wages

Tunisian activist speaks in front of anti-government protesters in Tunis, Tunisia, in this picture taken from social media. (File Photo: Reuters)
Tunisian activist speaks in front of anti-government protesters in Tunis, Tunisia, in this picture taken from social media. (File Photo: Reuters)
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Tunisia Government, Labor Union Fail to Agree on Wages

Tunisian activist speaks in front of anti-government protesters in Tunis, Tunisia, in this picture taken from social media. (File Photo: Reuters)
Tunisian activist speaks in front of anti-government protesters in Tunis, Tunisia, in this picture taken from social media. (File Photo: Reuters)

A scheduled strike for Thursday is likely to go ahead after Tunisia’s government and the Tunisian General Labor Union (UGTT) failed to reach a deal on raising the wages of civil servants, union and government officials said.

UGTT official Hafedh Hfaidh reported no progress on the negotiations with the government, saying the union will go on strike Thursday.

A government source told Reuters the negotiations had failed despite a new proposal from the government, without providing any details.

The government held negotiations with the UGGT hoping to end the strike, as Minister of Social Development Mohammed al-Traboulsi said he was optimistic about the talks. However, UGTT Sec-Gen Noureddine Taboubi refused the government’s proposal and confirmed that the Union is preparing for Thursday’s strike.

Taboubi denied local media reports about calling the strike off, saying that such rumors aim to create confusion and turmoil. He didn’t rule out the possibility of calling for a general strike in all sectors in case the government did not respond to their requests.

Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi warned against the strike’s negative impact.

Speaking on the 8th anniversary of the revolution, Essebsi wished to avoid the strike "at all costs … because its negative consequences will be heavier than the benefits that can be obtained in case all demands are met.”

Financial expert Ezzeddine Seaidan estimated financial losses of no less than $100 million if the strike was held. These include public sector losses, saying Thursday's move will have dire consequences on the private sector, aside from its ramifications on the transportation sector.

The expert also warned that the strike will affect foreign investments, interest rates, and even foreign loans.

In other news, two rights groups have filed a lawsuit accusing the Tunisian President of abuse of power after he pardoned a jailed party official, Borhane Bsaies.

This prompted NGOs al-Bawsala and I-Watch to lodge a joint formal complaint, saying the President’s pardon was motivated by “partisan interests that run contrary to... the values of justice, equity and good governance, in a Tunisia that is riddled with corruption.”

Last October, Bsaies was sentenced to two years in prison after being found guilty of taking improper payments during the rule of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

But in November, Bsaeis, who is close to Essebsi's son and Nidaa Tounes leader Hafedh Caid Essebsi, was pardoned by the President.

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Dozens of Gaza Communal Kitchens Shut as Supply Runs Out, Worsening Hunger 

An Israeli military vehicle patrols on the Israeli side of the Gaza border, May 7, 2025. (Reuters)
An Israeli military vehicle patrols on the Israeli side of the Gaza border, May 7, 2025. (Reuters)
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Dozens of Gaza Communal Kitchens Shut as Supply Runs Out, Worsening Hunger 

An Israeli military vehicle patrols on the Israeli side of the Gaza border, May 7, 2025. (Reuters)
An Israeli military vehicle patrols on the Israeli side of the Gaza border, May 7, 2025. (Reuters)

Dozens of community kitchens in Gaza shut their doors on Thursday due to a lack of supplies, closing off a lifeline used by hundreds of thousands of people in a further blow to efforts to combat growing hunger in the enclave. 

The move followed hours after the US-based World Central Kitchen (WCK) charity announced that it had run out of the ingredients necessary to provide much-needed free meals and had been prevented by Israel from bringing in aid. 

Amjad al-Shawa, director of the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network (PNGO) in Gaza, told Reuters that most of the enclave's 170 community kitchens had shut down after running out of stock due to Israel's continued blockade on Gaza. 

Shawa said the decision by the WCK, announced late on Wednesday, and the closure of community kitchens on Thursday would cause a drop of between 400,000 to 500,000 free meals per day for the 2.3 million population. 

"Everyone in Gaza today is hungry. The world must act now to save the people here," said Shawa, speaking to Reuters by phone from Gaza. 

"The remaining kitchens will be closing soon. The hunger catastrophe is beyond words. People are losing their lone source of food," Shawa added. 

Those Gazans trying to cook independently meanwhile complain that flour still available on the market is contaminated. 

"The flour is full of mites and sand ... We sieve it three, four times, instead of once, so we can bake it," said Mohammad Abu Ayesh, a displaced father of nine from northern Gaza. 

'WE ARE HELPLESS' 

"We don't want to eat from it, but we feed the children, for the children. You can't tolerate its smell, cattle and animals would not eat it, we are forced to eat it against our will, we are helpless," he told Reuters. 

Israel has faced growing international pressure to lift an aid blockade that it imposed in March after the collapse of a US-backed ceasefire that had halted fighting for two months. 

Israel has accused agencies, including the United Nations, of allowing large quantities of aid to fall into the hands of Hamas fighters, who it accuses of seizing supplies intended for civilians and using them for their own forces. 

Hamas denies the allegation and accuses Israel of using starvation as a weapon against the population, most of whom have been displaced at least once during the 19-month-old conflict. 

Two weeks ago, most of the population relied on one and a half meals per day, but in the past few days that has dropped to one meal a day, and even that will lack meat, vegetables or the necessary healthy components, said Shawa. 

"The free meals are usually rice or lentils, that is now also at risk of being suspended within the next week. I am afraid that we may begin to witness deaths among elderly, vulnerable children, pregnant women, and the ill," said Shawa. 

Growing looting of community kitchens, stores of local merchants, and UN headquarters have prompted Hamas security forces to crack down on local gangs. Hamas executed at least six gang members last week, according to sources close to the group. 

UN humanitarian agency OCHA has said more than 2 million people - most of Gaza's population - face severe food shortages. Food has dried up in Gaza markets, and prices have risen beyond the means of the vast majority, especially those for flour, which has become scarce and sells at around $500 for a 25 kg (55 lb) sack, compared with $7 in the past.