650,000 Tunisians strike for pay rise as economy struggles

650,000 Tunisians strike for pay rise as economy struggles
Tunisian protesters wave national flags and chant slogans during a civil servants general strike after the failure of negotiations with the government on salary increases in the capital Tunis on Nov. 22, 2018. FETHI BELAID/AFP/Getty Images)
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About 650,000 public sector workers went on strike and thousands joined protests across Tunisia on Nov. 22 over the government’s refusal to raise wages amid threats from international lenders to stop financing Tunisia’s tattered economy.

Schools, universities, municipalities, and ministries were shut and hospitals had only emergency staffing in the nationwide walkout organized by the UGTT union, the biggest strike action in Tunisia for five years.