Chad Labor Unions End 5-Month Strike Amid Talks With Government

(Bloomberg) -- Public-sector workers in Chad ended a strike that began five months ago to protest austerity measures the government imposed as part of pledges to the International Monetary Fund to reduce the country’s wage bill.

Labor unions resumed talks with the government three weeks ago, and a proposal to increase salaries by 15 percent from January 2019 is under discussion, Barka Michel, the spokesman of the main labor union, the Union des Syndicats du Tchad, said in an interview.

The strike has severely affected government services as well as schools and hospitals in what’s one of the most underdeveloped countries in the world. Chad ranks 186th out of 188 in the United Nations Human Development Index. School wills probably reopen on Monday.

The government of the oil-producing central African nation from February began implementing cuts of 5 percent to 45 percent for civil servants to comply with a wage ceiling agreed under a bailout with the Washington-based lender.

To contact the reporter on this story: Daniel N'doh Nadjitan in N'Djamena at nnadjitan@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Karl Maier at kmaier2@bloomberg.net, Pauline Bax, Hilton Shone

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