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Teachers` strike looks imminent
2008-05-13 09:24:17
By Lydia Shekighenda
The countrywide strike by teachers earlier planned for last month but later put off now looks imminent.
Tanzania Teachers Union President Gratian Mkoba said in Dar es Salaam yesterday that there were indications that the government ``is defaulting on its promise to work on the teachers’ demands``.
``We are finalising plans for the strike because the government has all but failed to meet the teachers’ demands,`` he said, adding: ``We (TTU) did not call off the strike earlier set for May 1 this year but merely postponed it after realising that we did not have enough time to complete all pre-strike legal procedures.``
According to Mkoba, the earlier plans were shelved not because the government intervened and promised to pay the teachers their outstanding dues ``but because important procedures like mobilising our members to take part were not completed``.
He explained that they were disappointed by the way the government was handling the teachers’ demands because there were many irregularities and shortcomings yet to be attended to.
``We have many demands, including delayed salary rises. These will be the basis of the strike we have in mind if there are no changes by July this year,`` the TTU boss pointed out.
``Teachers in the country are still facing many problems, among them long overdue salary reviews for teachers in different grades. For instance, some teachers boasting two degrees are still paid the same salaries as certificate holders,`` he noted.
He added that some teachers whose salaries had been reviewed are yet to be paid accordingly while others do not even know their grades.
``The government set aside 1.3bn/- for secondary school teachers but only 700m/- has been paid. We are finalising plans for a countrywide strike because the government owes us a lot of money and we believe it is not serious about paying up,`` a defiant Mkoba stated.
He would not give any dates for the said strike, saying they wanted to ensure that the government did not disrupt their plans.
Contacted for comment on the TTU strike threat, Education and Vocational Training minister Jumanne Maghembe said that the government was doing the most it could to settle the arrears and that some of the teachers had already being paid.
``The arrears verified have already being paid. Teachers yet to be paid will get their money soon after the relevant government authorities have approved payment,`` he added. Prof Maghembe said the government was conducting the payment screening exercise in collaboration with the TTU leadership and therefore he saw no reason for the strike.
The union had initially lined themselves up for a May Day over demands for payment of arrears arising from outstanding transfer, medical treatment, leave travel and training allowance amounting to 9.5bn/-.
It put off the strike at the end of last month to give the government time to work on its promise to settle verified arrears.
Should the teachers make good their strike threat, more than three million primary and secondary school students will go without classes.
TTU, widely believed to be the strongest of the 15 or so Trade Union Congress of Tanzania (TUCTA) affiliates, boasts 156,923 members.
These account for roughly 76 per cent of all teachers in the country.
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