Tunisia’s UGTT enters a strike, Libyans first affected

Tunisia’s biggest union, UGTT, started a nationwide strike Thursday affecting the country’s airports, schools and state media to protest the government’s refusal to raise the salaries of 670,000 public servants.

Tunisia is under pressure from the International Monetary Fund to freeze public sector wages as part of reforms to help reduce the country’s budget deficit.

International lenders have threatened to stop financing the economy, which has been in crisis since the toppling of President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in 2011.

This strike affects Libyans the most as the Libyan airliners depend on flying to Tunisian airports and then Libyans can go from there to other countries in Europe and elsewhere, since Libyan airliners are banned from flying to European countries due to security issues.

Libyan Wins, Al-Afriqiyah Airways, Libyan Airlines and other operators have already suspended flights for today over the Tunisian strike.