Public transport was severely disrupted on Monday in Tunis due to a protest by agents of the main tram and bus company.
At the call of the Transport Federation to the UGTT, the powerful trade union federation, the agents of the Société des transports de Tunis (Transtu) demonstrated in the morning in front of the government headquarters at the Casbah to denounce the delay in payment of their salary and the failure to obtain the end-of-year bonus.
This protest led to the suspension of “the majority of services” by tram, bus, and suburban trains in Greater Tunis, according to Transit, a public company.
It also caused major traffic jams on the roads of the capital and its suburbs, according to witnesses.
The Ministry of Transport regretted in a press release this “wildcat strike which paralyzed the network of buses, trams and suburban trains in Greater Tunis, which hampered the proper functioning of public services and harmed the interests of citizens”.
He claimed that the salaries of the agents were paid on December 29 and that “the real reasons for the stoppage of work today are different financial demands in the form of an annual bonus in the total amount of approximately 16 million dinars (4.8 million euros) for the benefit of 7,073 agents”.
Assuring that this bonus was about to be paid, the ministry affirmed that Transtu ” in coordination with the various parties concerned, would endeavor to prevent any disruption ” of the service if the trade union organizations were to continue their protest movement.
Transit agents had already observed a strike in early November in the middle of the local school holidays, a period when many families travel to the Tunis agglomeration.
Transit currently operates 250 buses and 15 trams and trains to connect the capital to the Greater Tunis region, which has more than 2 million inhabitants.
On the verge of asphyxiation because of a debt exceeding 100% of GDP, Tunisia managed in mid-October to obtain an agreement in principle from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a new loan of nearly two billion dollars but is still awaiting final approval.
In return, the government has committed to reforms, the most important of which are a gradual lifting of subsidies for basic products, particularly fuel and electricity, and a restructuring of public enterprises which have a monopoly in many sectors (transport, water, energy, cereals, medicines).
The country has also been plagued by serious political divisions since the coup by President Kais Saied who assumed all powers in July 2021.
