“Seven Months Without Wages”: Women Cleaning Workers Protest in Gafsa Hospital

By:Montaha Mohammadi

Twenty-five cleaning workers at the Regional Hospital of Gafsa, Tunisia, have launched protest actions after working continuously for seven months without receiving any wages. Their mobilization comes amid a prolonged failure to regularize their administrative and financial status, despite the disbursement of the budget allocated for their positions.

The women workers said that during a visit by the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Health, they were told: “Your files have just been set aside.” They described the remark as dismissive and degrading, especially as promises to pay their wages after their official registration in January have yet to be fulfilled.

“Our situation is extremely difficult… seven months of work without pay”

Speaking to Sharika Wa Laken, one of the protesters said:
“We are outsourced women cleaning workers at Hussein Bouziane Hospital in Gafsa. Our demands are legitimate, and we are waiting for official registration, which is one of our most important demands.”

She stressed that being denied wages for seven months has pushed many of them to the brink:
“It was a very difficult period. We have families, some of us are divorced and carry responsibilities alone, some are married and have children, some have children with disabilities, and others live with chronic illness in the family. Despite all of this, we are only asking for what the law guarantees us: official registration.”

Another woman worker echoed the same frustration:
“Our situation is extremely difficult. We have been working for seven months without pay, and we have no rights.”

A third woman worker pointed to the absence of even the most basic labor protections:
“Even the simplest professional rights are not available. We don’t have the right to take leave, and anyone who requests leave has it deducted from their monthly earnings.”

The women said they carry out their work inside the hospital under harsh conditions, without social protection or legal guarantees. They added that the continued stalling of their files undermines their dignity and further deepens the precariousness of their living conditions.

The protesters urged regional authorities and the Ministry of Health to intervene immediately to pay their outstanding dues and settle their legal status, calling for an end to what they described as a deliberate policy of delay and neglect.

A clear violation of labor rights

The withholding of wages, the women workers argue, amounts to a blatant breach of international and national standards that guarantee fair pay and decent working conditions. International Labor Organization conventions, particularly Convention No. 95 on the Protection of Wages, require wages to be paid regularly and without unjustified delay.

Convention No. 100 also enshrines the principle of equal pay and non-discrimination. Nationally, the Tunisian Constitution guarantees the right to decent work and fair wages and prohibits all forms of exploitation, while the Labor Code obliges employers to pay wages within legally defined deadlines.

The continued delay in paying the workers raises serious questions about the Ministry of Health’s commitment to its legal, national, and international obligations to protect workers’ rights, especially women employed in precarious and vulnerable sectors.

Attempt to obstruct journalistic work

During the reporting of this field investigation and while documenting the testimonies of the protesting workers, a hospital employee reportedly intervened to stop filming and forcibly took the reporter’s phone in an attempt to prevent documentation, without any legal justification. The incident constitutes a direct violation of the right to access information and the freedom of journalistic work.

The reporting process, the article notes, was treated as a security disturbance rather than recognized as legitimate public-interest journalism, an apparent effort to intimidate and restrict independent media instead of ensuring the protection required for free reporting.

The protest actions ultimately ended with renewed “promises” that the workers’ situation would be resolved.