Tunisia fuel strike highlights growing economic and political anger

A 48-hour strike by fuel transport workers in Tunis exacerbates public frustration amid worsening public services and a deepening economic crisis.

People protest against rising prices, their declining purchasing power and shortages of basic goods in Tunis, Tunisia, on August 20, 2026. The large banner reads: 'Enough injustice, enough failure' [Ons Abid/AP Photo]

Fuel transport workers in Tunis have launched a 48-hour strike to demand better working conditions, wage increases, the disbursement of previously agreed allowances from 2019 and the settlement of social security dues.

Al Jazeera correspondent Saifeddine Bouallegue reported that the strike, organised by the General Federation of Oil and Chemicals and lasting until Thursday, prompted citizens to rush to petrol stations, threatening widespread paralysis in a country that relies almost entirely on trucks for fuel distribution. Khaled Bettin, general manager of the national oil distributor Agil, confirmed that fuel remains available but urged a swift resolution to the strike to avoid further disruptions.

Worsening public services

The union action coincides with mounting public anger across Tunisia over recurrent electricity and water outages, rising prices and medicine shortages. More than five years after President Kais Saied suspended parliament and began ruling by decree, old grievances are resurfacing as the space for civil society and political dissent narrows significantly.

Experts suggested the fuel strike is a symptom of a much broader macroeconomic crisis, characterised by inflation, eroded purchasing power and the state’s inability to secure external funding.

Kholoud Toumi, a Tunisian economist, told Al Jazeera that the current situation is the result of overlapping internal and external pressures.

“The global economy suffers from an economic crisis and fluctuations in oil and energy prices globally, and this reflects directly on the import bill as well as the economic needs for hard currency,” Toumi told Al Jazeera. “Tunisia suffers from a crisis in providing hard currency, and this reflects on the external balance.”

Toumi warned of the severe consequences of the transport stoppage.

“This strike came for its main reason, which is the decline in purchasing power and the rise in inflation,” Toumi noted. “The fuel sector is considered one of the sensitive sectors, so a two-day strike will have disastrous results on the Tunisian economy. Any disruption in transport, production and supply raises the cost of activity.”

She also noted that the government’s failure to secure foreign funds has forced a reliance on domestic borrowing, which has negatively impacted investment and consumption.

Deep structural reforms

The broader economic crisis has reignited debates over reforms that international financial institutions have pushed. Toumi described those reforms as a “medical prescription” the International Monetary Fund had issued but Tunisia’s government had failed to implement so far. The economist said the primary obstacle was opposition from the country’s main trade union, the Tunisian General Labour Union, better known by its French acronym, UGTT. The General Federation of Oil and Chemicals, which is leading the transport strike, is affiliated with the UGTT.

However, some analysts framed the current crisis as a legacy of long-term mismanagement and ongoing union disputes rather than recent policy failures.

Souhaib al-Mazriqi, a political analyst, told Al Jazeera that the fuel strike stems directly from a conflict between the labour union and the employers union.

“The labour union accuses the employers union of reneging on the demands and agreements that were made in 2019,” al-Mazriqi said. “The situation, which we can term as economically and socially constrained, was the result of successive government policies.”

Demands for accountability

Other observers rejected blaming the previous decade for the current public service collapse, pointing directly to the current administration’s monopolisation of power.

Ahmed al-Ghiloufi, a political analyst, told Al Jazeera that the government must bear full responsibility for the mounting public anger and lack of transparency.

“The fuel sector is the tip of the iceberg of a general and comprehensive crisis,” al-Ghiloufi said, citing statistics from the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights showing that Tunisia in 2026 has witnessed the most protests in a decade. “Those who want to escape responsibility by throwing the ball to previous decades are running away from their responsibility. There is one ruler who rules the country, and he must bear the responsibility.”

Al-Ghiloufi also questioned the economic data released by the government and its crackdown on the political opposition.

“If we rely on what the government says, I say that governments of this type never give you the correct numbers,” he said. “We live in a closed system that has no transparency and no initiative.”

“The major issue is that the current regime does not allow dialogue and considers itself an absolute and sole delegate over the future and fate of this people and does not accept any partnership,” al-Ghiloufi concluded.

突尼斯燃料运输工人举行 48 小时罢工，加剧了公众对公共服务恶化和经济危机加深的不满。

2026年8月20日，突尼斯首都突尼斯市，民众抗议物价上涨、购买力下降和基本生活用品短缺。横幅上写着：“够了，不公够了，失败够了！”[Ons Abid/AP Photo]

突尼斯燃料运输工人发起了一场为期 48 小时的罢工，要求改善工作条件、提高工资、发放 2019 年以来商定的津贴以及结清社会保障金。

半岛电视台记者赛义夫丁·布阿列格报道称，由石油化工总联合会组织的罢工持续到周四，导致民众涌向加油站，这威胁到这个几乎完全依赖卡车运输燃料的国家的交通大面积瘫痪。国家石油分销商Agil总经理哈立德·贝廷证实，目前燃料供应仍然充足，但他敦促尽快结束罢工，以避免进一步的混乱。

公共服务恶化

此次工会行动正值突尼斯民众对频繁断电断水、物价上涨和药品短缺日益不满之际。总统凯斯·赛义德解散议会并开始以法令治国五年多后，随着公民社会和政治异议空间的显著萎缩，旧日的怨恨再次浮出水面。

专家认为，此次燃料罢工是更广泛的宏观经济危机的一个征兆，其特点是通货膨胀、购买力下降以及国家无法获得外部资金。

突尼斯经济学家霍卢德·图米告诉半岛电视台，目前的局势是内部和外部压力相互交织的结果。

“全球经济正遭受经济危机和全球石油及能源价格波动的影响，这直接影响到进口额以及对硬通货的经济需求，”图米告诉半岛电视台。“突尼斯正面临硬通货供应危机，这影响到其外部平衡。”

藤美警告说，交通中断将造成严重后果。

图米指出：“此次罢工的主要原因是购买力下降和通货膨胀加剧。燃料行业被认为是敏感行业之一，因此为期两天的罢工将对突尼斯经济造成灾难性后果。运输、生产和供应的任何中断都会增加经济活动的成本。”

她还指出，政府未能获得外国资金，被迫依赖国内借贷，这对投资和消费产生了负面影响。

深度结构性改革

更广泛的经济危机再次引发了关于国际金融机构推动的改革的争论。图米将这些改革形容为国际货币基金组织开出的“处方”，但突尼斯政府迄今未能落实。这位经济学家表示，主要障碍来自该国主要工会——突尼斯总工会（简称UGTT）的反对。领导此次运输业罢工的石油化工总联合会隶属于UGTT。

然而，一些分析人士认为，当前的危机是长期管理不善和持续不断的工会纠纷造成的遗留问题，而不是近期政策失误造成的。

政治分析家苏海卜·马兹里基告诉半岛电视台，燃料罢工直接源于工会和雇主联盟之间的冲突。

“工会指责雇主协会违背了2019年提出的要求和达成的协议，”马兹里基说。“目前这种经济和社会受限的局面，是历届政府政策造成的。”

问责要求

其他观察人士则拒绝将当前公共服务崩溃归咎于上个十年，而是直接指出是现任政府对权力的垄断。

政治分析家艾哈迈德·吉卢菲告诉半岛电视台，政府必须对日益增长的公众愤怒和缺乏透明度承担全部责任。

“燃料行业只是冰山一角，背后隐藏着一场全面而广泛的危机，”吉卢菲说道。他援引突尼斯经济和社会权利论坛的统计数据指出，突尼斯在2026年经历了十年来最多的抗议活动。“那些试图将责任推卸给过去几十年的人，是在逃避自己的责任。国家只有一个统治者，他必须承担责任。”

吉卢菲还对政府公布的经济数据及其对政治反对派的镇压提出了质疑。

“如果我们只听信政府的说法，那么我认为这类政府永远不会给出准确的数据，”他说。“我们生活在一个封闭的体系中，既缺乏透明度，也缺乏主动性。”

“主要问题是，现政权不允许对话，并将自己视为这个民族未来和命运的绝对和唯一代表，不接受任何伙伴关系，”吉卢菲总结道。