Rail, bus and air traffic stopped in Tunisia and street protests drew thousands on Thursday as the huge UGTT union staged a one-day nationwide strike to challenge the government’s refusal to raise the salaries of 670,000 public servants.
The strike was the biggest since the assassination of opposition politician Chokri Belaid in February 2013, when Tunisia was navigating a rocky transition to democracy after the toppling of autocrat Ben Ali two years earlier.
The North African country has since adopted a constitution guaranteeing fundamental rights and holding free elections, making it the only “Arab Spring” country to avoid conflict as in Syria or further bouts of political turmoil like Egypt.
An economic crisis has eroded living standards for Tunisians, however, and unemployment is high as political turmoil and lack of reforms have deterred investment needed to create jobs. That has forced the government to launch austerity measures to please donors and lenders including the International Monetary Fund.