Malawian teachers in public schools are reportedly piling pressure on their Union to join the ongoing public workers strike which is set to be extended country wide today.
The latest development follows the breakdown of talks between Civil Servants Trade Union (CSTU) and Government Negotiating Team (GNT) late last week.
However, Teachers Union of Malawi (TUM) President Chauluka Muwake whose organisation represents the interests of teachers working in public service warned that his organisation will not back any of its members who will join the strike without his blessing.
“I just warn our members that they will not get our backing, [in any future disciplinary action against them resulting from joining this industrial action. This industrial strike has not received our blessing for our members to join at this stage],”explained Muwake in a radio interview with private owned radio Zodiak.
Muwake accused the leadership of CSTU for not exhausting all channels of negotiations before embarking on the ongoing industrial action which has paralyzed government administrative nerve centre in the administrative capital Lilongwe and government offices in commercial city Blantyre in the south.
“CSTU acted very quickly before exhausting all channels of negotiations. [They needed to follow procedure before taking this action],” he said.
He added that before this industrial action TUM had called CSTU the leadership to query them on what has been achieved regarding the status of teacher’s grievances in their discussions with the government representatives.
“We approached CSTU [before the ongoing strike] to brief us on the progress of the negotiations of teachers grievances [instead of responding to our queries] the next thing we heard was that they have called for this industrial action,” said Muwake.
When the radio reporter put it to him that he might be acting out of ordinary on this matter because of inducements from authorities to sabotage the strike, Muwake strongly dismissed the suggestions saying he was not the type that would be easily bribed by anybody.
“[This whole matter rests on right procedure to be followed.]We cannot defy procedure. We were elected to represent teachers and present their grievances to authorities. We are just doing that. We already wrote the authorities on teacher’s grievances and we are waiting for their response. I have not been bribed by anybody and I’m not that type that would be easily bribed,” explained Muwake.
But a group calling itself ‘Concerned Teachers Committee’ with members from primary school teachers has emerged in Blantyre and has vowed to join the industrial action saying that CSTU has raised genuine concerns which needs teachers support.
“The petition which CSTU has presented to government has issues which concerns teacher’s welfare. As teachers we need to support this action. We would like to ask all teachers with effect from Monday (today) to join the strike,” said Innocent Banda the group spokesperson in radio interview.
“As far as our welfare is concerned we teachers are worst paid professionals. We get peanuts. Even the president herself acknowledged in Mangochi recently that teaching is a lowly paying job in the country,” added Banda.
He wondered at rationale advanced by teachers union in taking negative stance against the ongoing industrial action.
“We are Malawians. Concerns raised by CSTU are about Malawian teachers also. We are surprised by TUM stance on this matter. We wonder on whose interests they are representing?” he queried.
Meanwhile, Minister of Information and Civic Education, Moses Kunkuyu in an interview with Capital Radio on Sunday, appealed to CSTU to return to the negotiating table and not to extend the industrial action countrywide, saying the authorities are willing to talk.
“It will be too early for them [CSTU] to call for a national strike at this stage when talks on the matter have not been exhausted. We would like to appeal to them to continue with the dialogue process [by returning to the negotiation table],”said Kunkuyu.
But Eliah Kamphinda Banda President of CSTU said his union was ready to end the ongoing strike unless authorities showed flexibility to address grievances raised by public workers.
Malawi civil servants according to media reports are demanding 67 percent salary rise and improvement in condition of service.
