Tunisians complain about new mandated work schedule

13/11/2008

A new work schedule imposed by the Tunisian government doesn't seem to be working for civil servants. Tunisians complain that the new system doesn't match school hours and they have to leave home early anyway to drop off their kids.

By Jamel Arfaoui for Magharebia in Tunis – 13/11/08

[Getty Images] The government hopes changes to the Tunisian workday will reduce traffic congestion and fatal accidents.

A new schedule of work hours approved by the Tunisian government last Friday (November 7th) has many Tunisians angry for making their lives "more complicated".

The new system, which the government says should help ease traffic flow in the greater Tunis area, requires civil servants to start their day at 9 a.m. and end at 5:45 p.m., with a 90-minute break in the middle. The workday previously began at eight.

Unsurprisingly, the new hours fail to satisfy all 350,000 civil servants in the capital. Some find the change useless, and many other say it has complicated their lives and those of their spouses and children.

"The situation has become more complex," said Meryam Mkademi, a government employee. Her husband works in the private sector and has to start the day earlier. "We only have one car, and I have to leave with him to drop me at work and wait until 9:00 to start working. This is waste of time, and doesn't give me any time to rest. It's nerve-wracking."

According to a government statement, the new working-hours system is an experiment, which the government will assess and evaluate later.

With other time changes in Tunisia, like daylight saving and Ramadan working hours, Tunisians are uncomfortable and irritated.

"They have turned us into lab rats," said Selma Khiari, "and they wonder why violence has increased in families and why education has plunged to these shameful levels."

Kamel Drissi, a general practitioner, said that the new hours, along with strangling traffic congestion, "causes physical strain that turns into nervous strain, and then chronic stress; something which has effects on both families and the workplace."

Although it is still early, many Tunisians say they haven't felt a change in traffic, especially when people have to be in the streets earlier anyway to drop their kids at school. If only the new system matched school hours, some said, things could be easier.

The time I used to spend to get to work didn't change either," said Mourad Hnia, because he has to drive his children to school before eight.

But the government is keen to find a solution to the traffic problem in the capital and to reduce the number of accidents. According to government statistics, in 2007 alone there were 1,516 deaths and more than 1,500 injuries in 11,000 car accidents across Tunisia. More than 39% of these accidents occurred in the capital.

This is not the first time the Tunisian government has tried to solve the traffic problem by changing work schedules. A government representative said a similar experiment failed in the 1980s, but did not elaborate.

To solve the traffic problem, some people have gone to the extreme and suggested moving the capital to another location, or moving some of the ministries to other cities.

"This way," said Slimen Belhadj Ali, "we could guarantee the smooth flow of traffic, even for pedestrians."

"The capital is strangled with its residents and turns into a nightmare each morning."