Summary:

The office of Tunisia’s Prime Minister Najla Bouden has reportedly reached an agreement with the leaders of the powerful UGTT (Tunisian General Labor Union) and UTICA (Tunisian Union of Industry, Trade, and Handicrafts) labor unions to begin talks on potential reforms to satisfy the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The agreement was reached on Friday, 12 August with indications that discussion between the government and the unions would commence on Monday, 15 August.

Outlook:  

Coordination and agreement between the Tunisian government and the highly influential labor unions will be essential to any sort of progress toward securing lending from the IMF. However, what remains to be seen is how earnest the commitments are to continuing talks from the government or union side. With the unions continuing to wield the power of their ability to organize large-scale labor strikes, it remains in their interest to balance their perception as spoilers on behalf of the people with the perception that they are good-faith participants in the pursuit of IMF funding.