A significant, two-day cessation of work was formally initiated by Tunisian bank employees on a Monday, a potent industrial action undertaken to compel demands for essential pay increases. This collective mobilization was deployed against the rapidly deteriorating backdrop of the country’s persistent and severe economic crisis. The immediate consequence of the walkout was the complete halt of all regulated financial transactions throughout the nation’s public and private banking system, resulting in a state of financial immobility across the country.
As the strike commenced, the profound public impact was immediately apparent. Lengthy queues were observed forming at automated cash dispensing points across the major urban centers. However, reports were quickly disseminated by customers that a considerable proportion of these machines were either non-functional or had been rapidly depleted of available currency reserves. The subsequent financial paralysis was acutely felt by the general populace, with one citizen conveying the widespread nature of the hardship. It was stated that daily life was being severely compromised by numerous economic difficulties, including the ongoing scarcity of essential supplies such as specific medicines, the general shortage of key commodities, and the established reality of an “extremely high” cost of living. The addition of this banking disruption had left the population further immobilized “without cash,” highlighting how the labor action directly compounded existing national distress.
The initiation of this powerful strike was formally attributed to the UGTT union, a labor organization that has historically maintained significant and durable influence within Tunisian civil society. The decision to proceed was necessitated by the complete breakdown of negotiations concerning both employee remuneration and working conditions. These talks had been conducted with the banking council, the representative body for all national financial institutions. The union’s central justification for demanding “urgent adjustments” to salaries was the severe erosion of the employees’ real purchasing power, a direct and sustained effect resulting from the continuous and accelerating cost of living increases. While these firm demands were being publicly pressed, a direct comment from the government regarding the labor dispute was not immediately provided, suggesting a tense political silence surrounding the negotiations.
The sheer scale and organization of the strike served to powerfully underscore the UGTT’s enduring influence across the country. This influence is maintained despite the significant political transformations that have occurred in recent years, particularly since 2021, when the President initiated a process of ruling by decree. This move began a systematic shift toward the centralization of executive power. The resulting tension between the executive branch and established civil society has been vividly demonstrated by a recent and widening crackdown on political opposition and independent organizations. As an example of this policy, the government had proceeded with the suspension of three non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the preceding week, and a number of prominent government critics have been detained, actions viewed by observers as part of a concentrated effort to curb political dissent and civil liberties.
The President’s actions have been publicly defended through a narrative that asserts a necessary fight against “traitors, corrupt figures and mercenaries” is being waged. Furthermore, formal accusations have been leveled against civil society groups, which are claimed to be receiving foreign funding with the ultimate, illicit objective of interfering in Tunisian affairs. This narrative of external interference is consistently utilized to justify the crackdown on internal dissent. In a direct and collective response to these mounting pressures, the head of the UGTT addressed hundreds of bank workers who had gathered near the union headquarters. It was strongly asserted by the leader that fundamental “union rights,” along with wider “public and individual freedoms,” were currently being subjected to a sustained “attack.” It was passionately conveyed that trade unionists were engaging in a critical struggle not only for their immediate employment rights but also for the preservation of their “dignity” and core democratic freedoms.
The industrial action is understood to be taking place as Tunisia continues to suffer under the weight of a severe and prolonged economic crisis. The country’s stability has been gravely undermined by multiple structural weaknesses, most notably a persistent and debilitating shortage of foreign funding and investment. This lack of capital, when combined with a weak rate of economic growth, has contributed directly to a public debt level that now exceeds 80 percent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The cumulative effect of these failures is borne by the average citizen, manifesting as continuous shortages of some essential goods and a visible deterioration in the quality and reliability of fundamental public services. It was confirmed by an individual bank worker who participated in the rally that bank employees were “suffering like all Tunisians” from the relentless increase in the cost of living. The demands for pay adjustments were thus publicly presented not as an isolated labor demand, but as a necessary response rooted in the pervasive national economic distress affecting all citizens, further exacerbating the already strained political environment marked by the centralization of power.
