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Teachers’ protest off as Unatu strikes deal with government
Pupils of Nakivubo Settlement Primary School play in class last week during day two of the teachers’ strike. PHOTO BY STEPHEN WANDERA
What you need to know:
Experts cast doubt on new deal which tasks a sub-committee to study three options given to the govt by the teachers’ union.
Kampala
Teachers in public schools across the country are expected to return to class after their union officials struck a deal with government on Tuesday night.
A copy of the agreement seen by Daily Monitor indicates that Uganda National Teachers Union (Unatu), which called the industrial action in order to make a case for a 20 per cent salary increment for teachers, gave the government three options from which to choose.
The first option was that the government could defer fulfillment of the 20 per cent increment to January next year, while the second option was that teachers would forego their 20 per cent demand for this 2013/14 Financial Year and instead get a consolidated 35 per cent pay rise in the 2014/15 Financial Year. The third proposal to government was that it could instead swap the 15 per cent pay rise for the 2014/15 financial year with the 20 per cent being demanded this year.
When teachers went on strike in 2011 asking for 100 per cent pay rise, the government instead offered a 50 per cent increment, which would be phased in three years. The breakdown would be 15 per cent in the first phase, 20 per cent in the second and another 15 per cent in the last segment. After the government failed to keep its promise for the second phase, Unatu called the industrial action, which had now entered its 10th day before it was called off yesterday.
In the agreement reached on Tuesday, government does not indicate if it will take any of the options, instead indicating that a Unatu leadership and a Cabinet sub-committee will study the proposals, including their cost implication before a final decision is taken.
Agreed
The committee will meet between October 2 and November 10, according to the document that was signed by Mr Richard Todwong (Minister without Portfolio), Ms Jessica Alupo (Education minister), Mr James Tweheyo (Unatu secretary general) and Ms Margaret Rwabushaija (Unatu chairperson). State ministers Jachan Omach (Finance) and Sezi Mbaguta (Public Service) witnessed the agreement.
A 20 per cent increment in teachers’ salaries would have translated into a wage bill of Shs139 billion annually which the government insisted it could not find. The union on the other hand said it had identified wasteful expenditure in the budget which could be channeled to this purpose.
During an impromptu media briefing in Kampala yesterday, Ms Barbara Nekesa, the Karamoja state minister, who was standing in for Information minister Rose Namayanja, termed the teachers decision to call off the strike as “wise and patriotic”. “It is a noble gesture by teachers and Unatu and an illustration of empathy with aspirations of schools, students, parents/guardians and the country at large,” she said at the briefing attended by neither Education ministry officials nor Unatu members.
Later in the day, the Unatu secretary general, Mr Tweheyo, addressed journalists, saying the strike had been suspended only for 28 days and that government must find the Shs139b. “We have agreed to suspend the strike but not call it off. If the document is not binding, we shall resume the strike. The struggle continues and the countdown to 28 days starts today,” said Mr Tweheyo.
Experts the Daily Monitor spoke to yesterday said teachers could have been offered a raw deal since it was most likely government would still struggle to find the money for salary increment. “Government is doing crisis management,” said Mr Issa Matovu, an education expert. “They are simply postponing the crisis. If they have failed to get money in September, it will be a miracle for them to get it in January because it remains the same budget. They are either fooling the teachers or themselves.”
It was the same view echoed by Mr Fredrick Sempala, an educationist. “They are simply playing on the teachers’ psychology. If they failed to effect the 20 per cent which had been agreed on earlier, how will they effect the 35 per cent next year?” He added: “Instead of salary increment, the government should provide teachers with free medical services and free education to their children.”
Clergy speak
Religious leaders yesterday weighed into the debate, warning against intimidation of teachers. “We propose that the government sticks to the terms of a documented commitment and avoid mistrusts which led to the strike. The teachers should return to class once a clear and credible process of negotiations is established,” said Metropolitan Jonah Lwanga, who chairs the Inter-Religious Council of Uganda.
The group comprises leaders of the Catholic Church, the Muslim faith, Church of Uganda, Uganda Orthodox Church, Seventh Day Adventist Church and the Pentecostal Movement. These religious institutions own majority of the schools which government runs as public schools.
The clergy also asked government to trim the cost of public administration and channel the money key sectors like education, health and agriculture. “We have always wondered why our country of 34 million cannot do with a few ministers, MPs, presidential advisers, districts and other avoidable political offices in order to save money for critical sectors,” said Metropolitan Lwanga.
