Tunisian petrol pumps go dry as fuel workers launch 3-day strike

Tunisian petrol pumps are facing the wrath of the anger of fuel distribution workers who launched a 3-day strike demanding higher wages. Long queues and empty pumps at petrol stations across the North African nation became a common sight due to the strike.

"All services have gone down, we have become like a country where there is a war - no fuel, no medicines, no milk," said one man, who only gave his name as Mohamed, in a queue for fuel.

The strike comes just a day after Tunisia raised the minimum wage for industrial and farm workers as well as pensions for hundreds of thousands of private-sector retirees by 6.5 per cent after a series of protests. The government is facing rising public demands for more pay as price rise, with inflation at about 7 per cent. It is also contending with pressure from international lenders to cut the public wage bill and another spending to shore up state finances.

The government also agreed in February to raise wages of about 670,000 state employees after a nationwide strike.

The strike by fuel distribution workers, who are demanding a wage rise of about 300 dinars ($100) a month, is the latest in a series of stoppages by education, health and transport workers. Hundreds of disgruntled young people also rallied in the northern city of Kef earlier this week, demanding jobs.

Tunisians have complained about a decline of state services since Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali was overthrown in 2011. The uprising to topple the autocrat heralded a democratic transition but the associated turmoil also led to an economic crisis. The economic crisis has eroded living standards and driven up the level of unemployment, which economists blame on the slow pace of economic liberalisation reforms and poor investment.