Summary:
The case of female cleaning workers at Houcine Bouzaiène University Hospital in the governorate of Gafsa highlights the precarious nature of working conditions following the prohibition of subcontracting arrangements. Twenty-five women workers were deprived of their wages for nine consecutive months despite continuing to perform their work regularly.
The workers resorted to protest actions to demand payment of their outstanding wages and the regularization of their employment status, in a context marked by administrative inaction and failure to fulfill prior commitments related to formal employment and wage payments. This situation constitutes a direct infringement of their fundamental rights, particularly the right to wages and to human dignity.
Personal Information
Nationality: Tunisian
Governorate: Gafsa
Status: Female cleaning workers at the regional hospital in Gafsa
Nature of violation: Violation of economic rights
Facts of the Violation
The case of female cleaning workers at Houcine Bouzaiène University Hospital in the governorate of Gafsa reflects the precarious nature of working conditions within public institutions following the prohibition of subcontracting arrangements. In December 2025, 25 women workers were compelled to engage in a protest action by wearing red armbands, in response to the non-payment of their wages despite having worked continuously for nine months, in addition to the absence of formal employment status.
On 11 February 2026, the workers organized a protest in front of the Regional Directorate of Health to denounce the continued non-payment of their wages. This unjustified delay constitutes a clear violation of their rights. This was further confirmed following a visit by the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Health, during which the workers were reportedly informed that their files had been “set aside,” reflecting an institutional disregard for their professional and social rights.
The failure to fulfill prior commitments relating to formal employment and wage payment, particularly those expected in January, has further exacerbated the workers’ social and psychological instability. The workers perform their duties in harsh working conditions, without social protection or legal guarantees, and are deprived of their most basic labor rights. The situation is further aggravated by their belonging to vulnerable, low-income groups, with several of the women workers bearing significant family responsibilities, including single mothers, women with children with disabilities, or those suffering from chronic illnesses. In this context, the deprivation of wages goes beyond an administrative failing and constitutes a direct violation of their fundamental rights to human dignity, an adequate standard of living, and social security.
On 28 February 2026, the workers held another protest in front of the hospital administration as part of their continued mobilization to demand payment of their wages and the regularization of their employment status. In response, the hospital administration commissioned a bailiff to document their alleged absence from work on that day, despite the fact that the protest was peaceful and publicly declared.
At a later stage, the workers were informed of the Ministry’s intention to open applications for recruitment through a competitive examination with conditions that most of them do not meet. This was perceived as an attempt to circumvent their legitimate demands and to disregard their situation as workers who had already been performing their duties for an extended period without formal legal recognition of their employment.
Human Rights Violations
This case reflects a series of serious violations of the economic and social rights of the female cleaning workers concerned. First, there is a clear violation of the right to wages, as evidenced by the non-payment of their financial entitlements for nine consecutive months, amounting to a direct deprivation of their primary source of livelihood despite their regular performance of work. It also reveals a violation of the right to decent work, in light of the absence of formal employment status, lack of legal clarity, and the fact that the women workers perform their duties without social protection or stable contracts, in an unsafe working environment lacking minimum guarantees.
These practices are inconsistent with the guarantees enshrined in the 2022 Tunisian Constitution, particularly in Chapter II on rights and freedoms, and specifically Article 46, which affirms that work is a fundamental right for every citizen and that the State is committed to taking the necessary measures to ensure this right on the basis of competence and fairness, while guaranteeing the right to work under decent conditions and for fair remuneration.
The violations also extend to the right to human dignity, as reflected in the degrading administrative treatment of the workers’ files, the disregard of their legitimate demands, and their exposure to conditions of economic and social vulnerability that undermine their right to an adequate standard of living and social security. These violations also have a clear gender-based dimension, given that all those affected are women working in a precarious subcontracting sector, where their socio-economic vulnerability and lack of job security are exploited to impose unfair working conditions.
These practices constitute a clear breach of Tunisia’s international obligations. Articles 6 and 7 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) guarantee the right of everyone to freely chosen work and to just and favourable conditions of work, including fair wages ensuring a decent living for workers and their families. International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No. 100 establishes the principle of equal remuneration and non-discrimination, while ILO Convention No. 95 provides for the protection of wages.
Accordingly, the deprivation of wages despite the performance of work constitutes a direct violation of both the right to work and the right to fair remuneration, as well as a form of indirect discrimination on the basis of gender.