Train and bus traffic in the Tunisian capital of Tunis has ground to a halt after employees of the State transport company walked out over delays in the payment of wages and bonuses.
The strike highlighted the financial problems faced by public companies on the verge of bankruptcy, while the Government of President Kais Saied suffers through its worst financial crisis.
The transport strike is a show of strength by the powerful General Union of Tunisian Workers which has pledged to hold a continuing series of protests.
The union, representing one million members, has approved a two-day strike by air, land and sea transport workers later in January to protest against what it called “the Government’s marginalisation of public companies”.
The transport strike sparked anger among thousands of Tunisians struggling to get around the capital.
“Today, we do not find milk, oil, sugar, or coffee. Also now we do not find buses that take us to work,” a woman waiting at a bus station said.
“Tunisia has become an unbearable hell.”
The North African country is grappling with eye-watering public debt, shortages of goods, from sugar to petrol, and high inflation.
It is seeking a $US1.9 billion ($A2.75 billion) loan from the International Monetary Fund in exchange for unpopular reforms, including spending cuts, the restructuring of public companies and reductions in energy and food subsidies.
The strike is expected increase pressure on Mr Saied, who is facing growing opposition 17 months after seizing executive powers in a move his opponents described as a coup.
Tunis, 8 January 2023
