Benin Customs Workers to Protest Anti-Strike Measure, Union Says
Benin’s customs workers plan to start a three-day strike tomorrow to protest a draft policy that would end their ability to demonstrate, said Catherine Egounlety, secretary-general of the employees’ union.
Lawmakers in the West African nation are set to vote on the measure Sept. 29, she said in a speech broadcast on state-owned, Cotonou-based ORTB today.
Customs revenue reached 63.3 billion CFA francs ($130 million) in the first quarter of the year, or 1.8 percent of the country’s gross domestic product, according to the International Monetary Fund. Full-year revenue is forecast at 304 billion francs, or 8.7 percent of GDP, the Washington-based lender said in a report published on its website on Sept. 22.
The workers held a two-day strike earlier this month that cost the country about 3 billion francs, ORTB reported on Sept. 15, citing the union.
To contact the reporter on this story: Serge-David Zoueme in Cotonou via Accra at ebowers1@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Emily Bowers at ebowers1@bloomberg.net.
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