Tunisia: PM seeks realistic pay deal with UGTT

Tunisia’s government is seeking to agree on a realistic pay deal with the UGTT union taking into account public finances, Prime Minister Youssef Chahed said on Saturday.

About 650,000 public sector workers went on strike and thousands joined protests across Tunisia on Thursday over the government’s refusal to raise wages amid threats from international lenders to stop financing Tunisia’s tattered economy.

On Thursday, Tunisians from both the public and private sectors staged the biggest general strike in five years after their powerful trade union failed to secure wage hikes in tense negotiations with the government.

More than 3,000 people gathered outside parliament, responding to calls from the Tunisian General Labor Union (UGTT) for demonstrations.

“The wage increase is not a favor” and “Tunisia is not for sale”, protesters chanted, also employing a popular slogan of the country’s 2011 revolution -- “work, freedom, national dignity”.

Under pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and a deepening political crisis, Prime Minister Youssef Chahed is battling to cut the budget deficit to about 4.9 percent of GDP this year from 6.2 percent last year.

His unpopular reforms include cuts to the public sector, state companies, and fuel subsidies.

Tunisia’s economy has been in turmoil since autocrat Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali was toppled in a 2011 uprising sparked by anger at unemployment and poverty.