UGTT Union Leaders No Longer Know Which Way to Turn, Excel in Applying Foreign Orders
The union leaders of the UGTT (Tunisian General Labor Union) have lost their way and are now excelling in applying orders they receive from abroad. Through the executive bureau member Hfaïedh Hfaïedh, they have created an unfortunate precedent in the history of national trade unionism: on December 5, workers will observe a general strike, which was announced from Morocco.
When union leaders lose their direction, they also lose their bearings. The lieutenants of Noureddine Taboubi, the UGTT leader, no longer know when to keep quiet. It appears they have decided to internationalize their pseudo-disagreement with the President of the Republic, taking their quarrel with Carthage abroad, specifically to a brotherly and friendly country with which Tunisia has a centuries-old friendship and cooperation dating back to the national liberation struggle of our countries.
These relations have grown stronger and more qualitative over the years, making them a model to follow in our Maghreb region. Unfortunately, the UGTT union leaders have chosen to derail and tarnish these relations. They have proposed a new page of their "depravity" to Tunisians by announcing, in Morocco, during a union demonstration, that on December 5, 2025, the day of the celebration of the assassination of nationalist and union leader Farhat Hached by the Red Hand, Tunisia will experience a general strike.
The announcement is surprising and seems confusing and worrying for those who made it, especially for Tunisians who have divorced themselves from the practices of the dark decade and the unfortunate involvement of the UGTT in several false quarrels or battles where workers had no business intervening.
Why is an Announcement Abroad a Problem?
But why is the announcement of the general strike planned for December 5 to be vigorously denounced, and why are those who decided on it and announced it outside the national borders to be stigmatized?
The answer is simple, and one doesn't need to be a sorcerer to understand the reasons for this unacceptable derailment on all levels.
Firstly, because it comes from a foreign country and in front of an audience of unionists gathered to discuss and elaborate, together, the best possible strategies to strengthen the trade union spirit in the region and also to reinforce the defense of workers' rights, without forgetting the consecration of their absolute right to dignity through decent employment.
This announcement is to be considered a precedent in the annals of trade union action. To the extent that the UGTT, since its creation in 1946, has never announced, from a foreign country, that its militants will observe a general strike.
Furthermore, the general strike was announced while the unionists are preparing to organize a meeting of the administrative commission of the Central Union, well before December 5.
This raises the question of whether there is still a member within the remaining leadership, led by Noureddine Taboubi, who respects trade union structures and does not rush to predict an event (the general strike) that participants in the administrative commission meeting may not adopt.
Finally, the choice of December 5 as the day for workers who still follow Hfaïedh Hfaïedh's instructions and his friends to paralyze the country is an unfortunate choice, to say the least. Simply because it is an attack on Tunisia's militant history and a denial of the memory of a great man, the great Farhat Hached, whom the whole world has become accustomed to celebrating on December 5 every year.
Conclusion
To conclude, Tunisians, who were surprised by the announcement made by Hfaïedh Hfaïedh, in the active presence of an old acquaintance whose exploits they will never forget, namely former President Dr. Moncef Marzouki, now know how to choose between a president who decides to increase their salaries and pensions over the next three years and a "trade union" central that incites them to chaos and uncertainty in order to respond favorably to orders coming from abroad.
