A labor union said on Tuesday that teachers plan to launch new a strike on April 9, saying government promises after an earlier protest had not led to any concrete action.
“We will go for a strike of two days per week,” said a statement by the teacher’s union.
Specialist doctors and medical students also announced that they will join a strike by family doctors that has been going on for the last four months, affecting hospitals and health care centers in Algiers and other major cities.
“Our colleagues the students and our colleagues the specialists have decided to show support by joining the strike,” said Mohamed Toualeb, a spokesman for the strikers, although he would not elaborate on how many would join the walkout.
Toualeb said strikers were fed up with void promises by government of Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia, while calling on Bouteflika to intervene.
“The government is unable to address our demands ... So we are calling on Bouteflika to find a solution to our problems,” he said.
The strikes in Algeria come at a time of increased government difficulties in shoring up its finances. The OPEC member country has been hit by low oil prices for the past four years, leading to more protests over economic grievances.
Bouteflika, 81 and in office since 1999, made a rare public appearance several weeks ago to defuse three months of strikes by teachers that had shut down hundreds of schools.
Riots in 2011 that followed similar protests in the Arab world prompted the government to increase social spending. However, ongoing strikes show that Ouyahia’s administration has failed to find a similar formula to defuse the unrest, leading to speculations that Bouteflika’s sole option would be to resort to a cabinet reshuffle.
