14 January 2019•Update: 14 January 2019
By Adil Essabiti
TUNIS
The Tunisian General Labor Union on Monday reaffirmed plans to stage a general strike on Thursday to demand better pay for civil servants.
Speaking at a ceremony marking the eighth anniversary of Tunisia’s 2011 popular uprising, union head Noureddine Taboubi vowed to escalate strike activity if the government failed to meet the union’s demands.
"We had hoped to finalize negotiations with the government over the issue of public-sector salary raises,” Taboubi said.
“But the government is hiding itself behind the International Monetary Fund’s recommendations," he added. "So we have no choice but to call another strike.”
Government officials, for their part, have yet to comment on Taboubi's remarks.
Last November, the union organized another general strike to demand higher wages for the country’s civil servants, who are estimated to number roughly 650,000.
Since Tunisia’s 2011 popular uprising, the country has seen at least three general strikes to protest deteriorating economic conditions.
Tunisia was the birthplace of the "Arab Spring" uprisings that swept the Middle East and North Africa in early 2011.
The Tunisian uprising prompted the country’s authoritarian ruler, Zein Al Abidine Ben Ali, to step down after almost 25 years in power.
