Teacher unions in Tunisia have won a number of labor disputes recently, signaling an increase in bargaining power for teachers across a range of education levels. On May eighth, the Tunisian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research signed an agreement granting elementary school substitute teachers the same wage increase as their counterparts in secondary education. After the signing of the agreement, teachers canceled their plans to hold a nationwide two-day strike may ninth to tenth. On May fifth, the Syndicate of University Teachers and Researchers, a labor organization affiliated with the Tunisian General Labor Union (UGTT), decided to not start work on drafting college exams despite reaching an agreement on March 12th with the Ministry of Higher Education and Science research. The university professors have been on strike since January, demanding salary increases. Some believe that the weak state of the economy has allowed unions to overpower state officials. Assistant secretary-general of the UGTT, Sami al-Tahiri, says that the accusations are unfounded.
See "https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2018/05/tunisia-ugtt-education-labor-union-government-accusations.html", Hanen Jebli, Al-Monitor, May 25, 2018