UGTT: The Tunisian Syndical Giant on the Verge of Implosion
Since 2017, Noureddine Taboubi has led the Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT), the country’s most powerful trade union. Today, he faces a major internal leadership crisis. At the same time, the UGTT has seen a significant decline in its influence within power circles, especially after President Kaïs Saïed’s power grab in July 2021.
For the past six months, an open struggle has been underway within the UGTT’s executive bureau. Five members have chosen to boycott the leadership, while five others—former union officials—have come together in a collective aiming to redefine the union’s direction.
The roots of this crisis go back to 2020, when the executive bureau revealed its intention to remove the two-term limit for its members. Tensions escalated further when the bureau forced the amendment through during an extraordinary congress in July 2021. In September 2024, the bureau suspended the activities of the national council—the union’s second-highest body—just as it was preparing to vote in favor of holding another extraordinary congress to elect a new leadership.
A Reform Plan in the Works
In response, five deputy secretary-generals split from the bureau in late November 2024: Monem Amira, Slaheddine Salmi, Othmen Jallouli, Tahar Barbari, and Anouar Ben Kaddour, the son of a prominent UGTT figure from the 1980s. Ben Kaddour has emerged as the group’s leader, though they remain distinct from the more radical opposition faction known as the “Syndical Meeting” (Rencontre syndicale).
Ben Kaddour has kept communication channels open with Taboubi. The union leader has proposed moving up the next congress—which was originally scheduled for 2027—to no later than early 2026. Meanwhile, some within the union are calling for it to take place during the first half of 2025.
A broad reform plan is already taking shape, with a focus on developing a new strategy for “independent union action,” meaning a trade union movement free from state influence.
Winds of Change?
Once known for influencing ministers and government agendas, the UGTT’s leadership now finds itself sidelined. Even Taboubi, who once supported the president’s 2021 power move, has not been seen at the presidential palace in quite some time.
Meanwhile, the “Syndical Meeting,” which now operates outside the UGTT structure, is calling for a sweeping overhaul of the organization from top to bottom. They demand the resignation—voluntary or forced—of the national executive bureau, which they accuse of “union corruption” and a “putschist leadership.”
They are also targeting the privileges of top union officials, who benefit from official cars, fuel allowances, and generous monthly bonuses—perks that, according to insiders, have significantly increased in recent years. It’s a taboo subject within the UGTT.
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