On Thursday, hundreds of private-sector workers in the city of Sfax participated in Tunisia’s general strike.
In order to demand salary hikes, the powerful UGTT labor union called for a strike under the Day of Rage slogan.
In addition to the demand for a radical solution to the problem of waste accumulation in the streets of Sfax which has been ongoing for 10 months, the walkout carries social and development demands.
By chanting slogans expressing demands, hundreds of workers in public and private institutions participated in the strike.
Including 159 public institutions, seaports and airports, the UGTT had called for a nationwide one-day strike.
As inflation hit a record 7.5 percent in April, from 7.2 percent in March and 7 percent in February, the union, which has more than one million members, is demanding wage increases for state workers.
Since President Kais Saied ousted the government, suspended parliament and assumed executive authority last July, Tunisia has been in the throes of a deep political crisis, aggravated further by the country’s economic conditions.
Critics have accused him of orchestrating a coup, while Saied insists his measures were meant to “save” the country.
