The crowds of Monday in Sidi Bouzid, the birthplace of the Tunisian revolution, protested against marginalization and deteriorating living conditions, two days after the deaths of 12 rural workers in a traffic accident.
Transportation has been shut down completely and schools, public administrations and hospitals have been closed as part of a local general strike called by the unions, and only urgent medical services are available.
On Sunday, the Union of Labor (Workers' Union) called for a strike to support the victims of the agricultural sector who died in a road accident in Sidi Bouzid province, in which more than 20 people, mostly women, were injured.
The killing of workers who were riding a non-transport vehicle on their way to work in agriculture triggered a wave of anger among Tunisians.
These incidents have been repeated in the past few months, fueling the anger of citizens already accumulated because of the high cost of living, rising unemployment and a decline in the level of public services significantly since the ouster of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 2011.
Logos and support
"The people want to overthrow the regime," "We want justice, we want dignity," and "Streets and clashes until the regime falls," protesters in Sidi Bouzid echoed slogans calling for an end to marginalization.
"This strike is in support of the victims of the tragedy," said the regional official of the Labor Federation, Mohammed al-Azhar al-Qamoudi, referring to the marginalization suffered by the people of this region.
Al-Qamoudi also sent a letter to the government reminding her that Sidi Bouzid was the one who brought them to power, referring to the revolution that Mohammed Bouazizi blew up in the city at the end of 2010.
Prime Minister Yusuf al-Shuhad announced during a visit to the Sabala area to offer condolences to the families of the victims that he will work to provide buses to transport workers.
In the interior, the phenomenon of transporting women workers in the agriculture sector is on board small trucks lacking safety, often resulting in fatal accidents.
From Sidi Bouzid, sparking uprisings swept through the Arab world and overthrew the rulers of a number of its countries, when the young fruit and vegetable seller Mohammed Bouazizi on 17 December 2010 burned himself in protest against marginalization and difficult social conditions.