Message from Algeria’s President on the Occasion of International Workers’ Day (Full Text)

ALGIERS, April 30, 2026 – The Algerian President, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, on Thursday addressed a message to Algerian workers on the occasion of International Workers’ Day, celebrated on May 1, the translation of which is as follows:

“In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful,

Peace and blessings be upon His Messenger,

Female and male workers,

Workers in Algeria are celebrating their international day (May 1) at a time when our country has achieved, thanks to their commitment and efforts, major progress on the path toward an emerging economy. The institutional framework that we have established places women and men workers as the main lever of economic activity, through investment in human capital and national skills, which are charting this new path, supervising with commitment and determination, and carrying out with professionalism major structuring projects in several vital sectors such as energy, mining, water, agriculture, start-ups and entrepreneurship.

The path of loyalty to Algeria, to the sacrifices and aspirations of its people, initially imposed priorities dictated by the responsibility incumbent upon us to rectify the precarious and difficult overall situation that prevailed (an economy on the verge of collapse, a tense and uncertain social climate, a breakdown of trust and a weakening of the authority of the State at all levels).

Today, thanks to an expanding stock of strategic investments, this path has overcome the constraints of the early stages. The achievements realized by our women and men workers, such as the Western mining railway line, and those underway, such as the integrated phosphate project and the Oued Amizour zinc-lead project, as well as the railway network and seawater desalination plants completed and planned, constitute the starting point of a strong Algeria determined to meet challenges thanks to its executives and its workers, who demonstrate at every stage their capacity to raise the level of ambitions.

I wish to recall, on this occasion, the important social decisions taken since 2022 (date of the announcement of the first salary increase), within the framework of a series of raises and measures aimed at improving the situation of broad segments of society (unemployment allowance, allowance for housewives, allowance for persons with specific needs, university grant, extension of maternity leave, increase of the National Guaranteed Minimum Wage (SNMG) and, automatically, of the minimum threshold of retirement pensions, and tax exemption for low incomes).

While recalling these decisions and other measures whose positive effects are perceived by the world of work on living standards and which place Algeria among the States ensuring the best social coverage and protection, I wish to affirm that the State continues to assume the burden of social transfers and to support widely consumed products.

In doing so, the Government is called upon to exercise vigilance, firmness and to mobilize legal and regulatory mechanisms to combat speculation, unjustified price fluctuations and artificially induced shortages that weigh on families, in order to preserve the social character of the State.

On this International Workers’ Day, I renew my greetings and the expression of my consideration to women and men workers, with whom I recall, with pride, the struggles and sacrifices of workers and trade unionists, including the pioneers such as the martyr Aïssat Idir, and those who carried Algeria on their shoulders and confronted, during a bloody period, the machinery of barbaric terrorism, such as the martyr of national duty Abdelhak Benhamouda.

I extend to every female worker and every male worker my most sincere wishes, while saluting the deeply rooted spirit in our society aimed at enshrining a culture of recognition, by paying symbolic tribute to our retired sisters and brothers on this occasion.

I also wish to reaffirm the State’s commitment to strictly protect the rights of women workers, male workers and retirees, and to preserve their dignity, while recalling the obligation incumbent upon officials at all levels to ensure the tranquility of the Algerian family, in a manner that guarantees its daughters and sons an environment conducive to sustainable development, in an open and productive country that values effort and considers work as the very essence of citizenship.

Long live Algeria,
Glory and eternity to our valiant martyrs.”