Tunisia on verge of ‘economic disaster’: Labor union

TUNIS, Tunisia

Tunisia’s powerful labor union on Thursday warned that the North African nation is “on the verge of an economic disaster.”

"Tunisia is on the brink of an economic disaster for which it has not found solutions other than more debt and burdening the people with taxes, high prices and freezing wages," the Tunisian General Labor Union (UGTT) said in a statement marking the Labor Day.

It said such types of solutions have made the Tunisian economy bound to “options dictated from abroad and closed the door to domestic suggestions that would save the country from bankruptcy."

UGTT vowed to defend the economic rights of workers and called for the need to raise "the minimum wage (currently stands at about $134) and to initiate a new round of social negotiations to raise the wages of civil servants."

There was no immediate comment from the Tunisian authorities on the labor union's demands, but the government usually declares its commitment to economic reform and improving living conditions.

Tunisia has been in the throes of a deep political crisis since July 25, 2021 when President Kais Saied dismissed the government, suspended parliament and assumed executive authority in a move decried by his opponents as a “coup.”

Notably, the union had welcomed Saied’s measures but it criticizes the slow pace of reforms.

*Writing by Mahmoud Barakat