On This Day and Working Class History. The sixteenth January and on the sixteenth of January twenty eighteen, 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 crack down on protests against free market education and health reforms. First, workers in hospitals, schools, and courts walked out for three days. Then on the nineteenth of January, Bernin'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. The sources maps and all of our anniversaries
each day. Check out the on This Day's section of our stories at at stories stopworkingclasshistory dot com, and if you value our work, support us at Patreon dot com slash working class History. Links in the show notes. Theme music by A Decado. See you Tomorrow,