The inclusion of article 15 in the draft Finance Law 2026, providing for the freezing or fixing by decree of salary increases in the public and private sectors, arouses a strong reaction from the UGTT. The central union sees this as direct interference by the State in collective bargaining and threatens to resort to a general strike if the text is maintained without consultation.
In an interview with Express FM, Sami Tahri, deputy general secretary and spokesperson of the UGTT, denounced article 15 as an unprecedented step backwards in trade union rights. For him, this is a direct attack on the very principle of negotiation between social partners: “This is not only a first — it is a clear message: the State no longer wants unions,” he said.
Convocation of the National Council
Article 15 does not only concern the public sector: it also includes salaries in the private sector, which the UGTT considers unacceptable. According to Sami Tahri, it is a mechanism intended to neutralize the unions and to entrust the executive or legislative power with exclusive control over salary decisions, without consultation with worker representatives.
This approach, continues the trade unionist, reflects a decline in the constitutional and conventional right to social dialogue, implemented by a financial text rather than by collective negotiations, thus endangering decades of Tunisian social dialogue.
General strike planned
Faced with what he describes as a definitive closure of dialogue, Sami Tahri announces that the UGTT plans to convene its National Council at the beginning of December, and that a general strike is not excluded if article 15 is maintained without modifications.
“We no longer have any other choice but to defend the constitutional rights of workers,” he said, recalling that the door to dialogue has remained closed for several months despite repeated representations by the trade union center.
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