Economics

Hundreds of Thousands Strike in Tunisia Demanding Higher Wages

  • Mass walk-out by public-sector workers follows failed talks
  • About 670,000 workers expected to take part in day-long strike

Photographer: Trevor Snapp/Bloomberg

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Hundreds of thousands of Tunisian public-sector workers walked off the job Thursday after failing to wrest a wage increase from the cash-strapped government.

About 670,000 people, or near 6 percent of the North African country’s population, were expected to observe the day-long strike called by the powerful Tunisian General Labor Union, or UGTT. It excludes employees in services such as transport and electricity.