On this day, 16 January 2018, a series of strikes began in Benin against government plans to ban strikes by public sector workers. The move came as the state attempted to crackdown on protests against free-market education and health reforms.
First, workers in hospitals, schools and courts walked out for three days. Then, on January 19, Benin’s constitutional court declared part of the law unconstitutional, and the strikes spread. The government responded by cutting the pay of strikers, but the strikes continued, and eventually in late March the government reversed course on the pay cuts.
From early May the strikes began to wind down, and most unions had returned to work by the end of the month.
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