Madar (Dakar) - Senegal's union confederations pledged on Wednesday, 21 October 2026 to take the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games into account in the action plan that will follow the ongoing 72-hour general strike, "so as to avoid any disruption" during the Games, scheduled from 31 October to 13 November, according to a joint statement reported by the Senegalese news agency APS.
The statement by the Games organising committee (COJOJ) and the union confederations followed a meeting between COJOJ president Mamadou Diagna Ndiaye and a delegation of the CNTS, CSA, CNTS/FC, UNSAS and CNTS/FC/A led by Mody Guiro. The unions also reaffirmed their commitment to defending workers' moral and material interests.
On the first day of the strike, state bus company Dakar Dem Dikk said that under order no. 0199/GRD/AD issued by the governor of the Dakar region on 21 October, designated staff were requisitioned from 21 to 23 October inclusive and required to report for duty as scheduled to ensure "continuity of public service", news site Seneweb reported.
Diatta Fall, spokesman for the company's union coordination, told radio RFM that urban and intercity staff had observed the strike, but that soldiers had been driving the company's buses to the regions since about 7 a.m., which he said "frightens the workers" because they had not been trained on the company's vehicles.
Madar reported earlier that the general strike began with public transport halted in Dakar and the requisition of hundreds of staff at power utility Senelec.
