Summary

On 3 August 2026, workers of the Environment, Planting and Gardening Company staged a series of protests across Oum Larayes, Metlaoui, and Redeyef in Gafsa Governorate over repeated delays in salary payments in recent months, the non-payment of allowances and bonuses, and the failure to implement social and collective agreements concluded with the trade union in 2018 and 2020.

More than 3,000 workers took part in the protests, during which demonstrators burned tires and blocked several phosphate washing facilities. Participants described the mobilization as part of years of protests demanding their right to work and improvements to their working and social conditions, amid the continuing crisis affecting the company and the region.

General Information

Status: Workers of the Environment, Planting and Gardening Company

Governorate: Gafsa

Nature of the violation: Repeated delays in salary payments; non-payment of allowances and bonuses; and failure to implement social and collective agreements concluded with the trade union.

Details of the Violation

On 3 August 2026, workers of the Environment, Planting and Gardening Company staged simultaneous protests in Oum Larayes, Metlaoui, and Redeyef in Gafsa Governorate. They demanded the payment of overdue salaries, which they said had been repeatedly delayed in recent months, as well as outstanding allowances and bonuses, and the implementation of social and collective agreements concluded with the trade union in 2018 and 2020. According to the protesters, these agreements remained unimplemented at the time of the protests.

According to documented information, more than 3,000 workers participated in the protests, burning tires and blocking several phosphate washing facilities. Participants described the escalation as a direct response to the continued failure to address their professional and social demands.

These protests are part of years of mobilization by the company’s workers. Protests intensified during the three months leading up to August, amid the company’s ongoing financial crisis and repeated delays in the payment of workers’ entitlements.

Available information indicates that the Environment, Planting and Gardening Company employs approximately 12,000 workers. A draft law providing for the early retirement of several employees in exchange for monthly payments ranging from 300 to 500 Tunisian dinars has recently been under discussion, raising concerns among workers about their professional and social future.

The Environment, Planting and Gardening Company was established in the aftermath of the 2008 Gafsa Mining Basin protests. According to available information, its creation was part of an effort to ease social tensions in a region affected by decades of economic, social, and environmental marginalization. Around 2,800 workers benefited from the scheme when it was first introduced. By 2026, that number had gradually risen to nearly 12,000.

Several workers also reported that they have been demanding for years to be effectively assigned to their positions and allowed to perform their duties. According to their accounts, they have effectively been prevented from working since 2016, despite remaining administratively affiliated with the company. They consider that this situation has deprived them in practice of their status as workers.

The protests also take place against the backdrop of the economic crisis affecting the region and what demonstrators describe as the continued marginalization of Tunisia’s interior regions. They also point to the financial difficulties facing the Gafsa Phosphate Company and the Tunisian Chemical Group as a major factor in the continued failure to resolve their situation.

Participants reaffirmed their right to work and said they would continue their protests and step up their mobilization if their demands were not met.

Human Rights Concerns

The documented facts raise several human rights concerns relating to workers’ economic and social rights, particularly the right to work, the right to just and favourable conditions of work, the right to fair remuneration, the rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining, and the right to peaceful assembly in pursuit of economic and social demands.

Repeated delays in salary payments and the non-payment of allowances and bonuses raise concerns regarding the right to just and favourable conditions of work, including fair remuneration capable of ensuring workers and their families a decent living. These rights are protected under Article 46 of the 2022 Constitution of the Republic of Tunisia, Article 23 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and Articles 6 and 7 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which respectively protect the right to work and the right to just and favourable conditions of work.

The reported failure to implement the social and collective agreements concluded between the company’s management and the trade union in 2018 and 2020 also raises concerns regarding freedom of association and collective bargaining. These rights are protected under Article 42 of the 2022 Constitution, Article 8 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, ILO Convention No. 87 on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise, and ILO Convention No. 98 on the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining.

The documented facts further point to prolonged professional and social insecurity, reflected in years of protests, demands to be effectively assigned to positions, and delays in addressing workers’ professional and social demands. This situation raises broader concerns regarding the progressive realization of economic and social rights. Under Article 2(1) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, States are required to take steps, to the maximum of their available resources, toward the progressive realization of the rights recognized in the Covenant, including the right to work and the right to an adequate standard of living.

The case also reflects the ongoing crisis in the Gafsa Mining Basin, a region marked by decades of economic, social, and environmental marginalization. It underscores the need for public policies that address the structural causes of social unrest and promote more equitable development across Tunisia’s regions, in line with the country’s constitutional and international obligations on economic and social rights.

The workers’ protests also engage the right to peaceful assembly in pursuit of economic and social demands. This right is protected under Article 37 of the 2022 Constitution, Article 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and Article 11 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. The UN Human Rights Committee has also affirmed in General Comment No. 37 that peaceful assemblies may be held in pursuit of economic and social objectives and that States have obligations to facilitate peaceful assemblies and protect participants.

Taken together, the documented facts raise concerns regarding the right to work, fair remuneration and just and favourable conditions of work; respect for freedom of association and collective bargaining; and the right to peaceful assembly. Addressing these concerns requires meaningful social dialogue, respect for commitments made to workers and their representatives, and measures addressing the structural causes of social unrest in the region, in accordance with Tunisia’s constitutional and international human rights obligations.