In Tunis, public transport has been disrupted since Monday 02 January, due to a strike by employees of the Tunis Transport Company (Transtu), to denounce delays in the payment of wages and bonuses.
The strike follows a call for mobilisation launched by the Transport Federation of the Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT). The latter invited Transtu employees to gather this Monday for a sit-in protest on the government square, in the Kasbah of Tunis.
“We have decided to observe an indefinite strike until our salaries and New Year’s bonus are paid,” said Wajih Zidi, secretary general of the Ugtt-affiliated general transport federation.
The secretary also added that the government has not paid attention to the key demands of the company’s employees who suffer from a dilapidated bus fleet. And that the strike will continue until the workers get their demands met.
According to several media, this mobilisation caused the interruption of traffic on all metro and bus lines, which were empty of vehicles and also of passengers in the morning of Monday.
According to Reuters, “this is the first show of strength by the powerful union, which has also called for a two-day strike by employees in the air, land and sea transport sector on 25 and 26 January against what it describes as the government’s ‘marginalisation of public enterprises’.
