Tunisia’s state-owned airline TunisAir expects major disruptions to its flights schedule on Thursday due to a planned nationwide strike.
It has urged customers to change bookings
The country’s biggest union, the Union Generale Tunisienne du Travai, UGTT, said on Tuesday it would call for a strike after talks with the government to reach a deal to raise the salaries of 670,000 public servants failed.
About 670,000 public sector workers went on strike and thousands protested across Tunisia last November to press the government to raise wages.
The UGTT has around one million members, including public sector workers.
There was no sign that last-minute negotiations would take place to avert Thursday’s strike.
UGTT is unsatisfied with the government’s proposals regarding salary increases (in two instalments, 70 dinars a month from December 2018 and 110 from January 2019) and payment methods (using tax deductions).
Accusations are being made from both sides of the negotiating table.
UGTT says the government wanted the negotiations to fail.
However, a government source said the union rejected all of its proposals, showing that it was indifferent and determined to strike