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UNI affiliate FGPS, the General Federation of Professional and Service Workers, is demanding fair working conditions for its members in the cleaning and security sectors.



UNI Global Union declared its strong support for the strike.



The strike comes just as the country has formed a new government after more than 23 year of rule by ousted President Ben Ali.



The FGPS says the revolution is starting to bear fruit on the political front and the government has been reconstituted with people independent from the old regime. The union also said that political prisoners are free, exiles have returned to the country and an international arrest warrant has been issued against the president and his family.



“We view all of this in a good light but we demand better,” the FGPS said in a statement. “We have many problems, especially in the area of precarious work. We believe the time is right to win workers’ rights for regular salaries, necessary social protection, decent work, labor regulation in the [cleaning and security] sector and better living and working conditions.”



The union said it has called the strike to strengthen its call for workers’ rights as it negotiates collective contracts in the sector.



The two groups are on strike as Tunisia forms an independent government. One member of the new government, Taieb Baccouche, was FGPS general secretary from 1981 to 1986. Another, Mohamed Naceur, has long been close to unions in Tunisia.



“We stand in solidarity with the cleaning and security workers of Tunisia as they demand their rights,” said UNI General Secretary Philip Jennings, “and we fully support the FGPS, the Tunisian union movement and the people of Tunisia as they forge a new democratic future, which we believe will offer more opportunities for working people and close the rich/poor divide.”



Messages of support can be sent to: Mongi Abderrahim, General Secretary FGPS, email: mongi_ugtt_tun@yahoo.fr