UGTT in the forefront of resistance in Tunisia

Since the assassination of opposition MP Mohamed Brahmi at the end of July (after Chokri Belaïd, the second opposition politician to be killed this year) Tunisians have been protesting in the thousands, calling for the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly. The Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT) and its 600,000 members are in the forefront of the protests.

Talks began on Monday, 12 August, between the head of the ruling Islamist party Ennahda and the General Secretary of the UGTT, Houcine Abassi, after the speaker of the Constituent Assembly called for negotiations between the UGTT and the government as a means to end the political crisis.

The UGTT, in association with numerous civil society groups, organized a demonstration in favor of preserving the gains in women’s rights on Tuesday, August 13, the anniversary of the promulgation in 1956 of the Personal Status Code, which assured Tunisian women of their legal rights.