TUNIS -Thousands of members and supporters of Tunisia’s powerful Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT) protested in the capital over what they called a decline in union rights and civic freedoms.

It was one of the largest political demonstrations Tunisia has seen recently, and comes amid a deepening standoff between the UGTT and President Kais Saied.

Last month, a UGTT strike over wages and working conditions disrupted transport services across the country and piled pressure on Saied to deal with a deepening economic crisis. In response, hundreds of Saied’s supporters staged a rally outside the UGTT headquarters early this month to urge the president to suspend the union.

Thursday’s protest started in front of the UGTT headquarters in Tunis and passed through Habib Bourguiba Avenue, the site of mass protests that led to the downfall of President Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali in 2011 and sparked the Arab Spring uprisings across the Middle East.

Demonstrators chanted slogans including, “The right to struggle is a duty” and decried increasing poverty and hunger and called for the protection of workers’ rights.

UGTT Secretary-General Noureddine Taboubi decried what he called “threats and smear campaigns” against the union and called on authorities to release political prisoners and provide fair trials.

“The union will not deviate from the path of struggle and will adhere to its social and national role to guarantee workers’ rights,” he said in a speech.

There was no immediate comment from authorities on the protest.

Saied assumed sweeping powers in 2021, shut down the elected parliament, started ruling by decree, suspended the Supreme Judicial Council and sacked dozens of judges in a move the opposition described as a coup.

SOURCE: REUTERS AND AGENCIES