Sudan’s salary strike wave continues, also anti-violence and anti-racism protests

Sudan is still witnessing a wave of protests and strike action in various parts of the country, mainly against violence and to demand better wages or the implementation of the promised 2022 salary structure.

In West Kordofan, medical employees of the state Ministry of Health and Social Development embarked on a four-day strike on Wednesday after the deadline they had set for the implementation of the new 2022 salary structure expired. The strike excludes emergency cases and care for patients in hospital wards.

Employees of the West Kordofan state Ministry of Infrastructure and Urban Development went on a three-day strike on Tuesday. They also demand the adjustment of their wages according to the new salary structure of 2022, which should have been implemented in January.

Sudan is witnessing various strikes and protests concerning the federal authorities’ failure to implement the promised 2022 salary structure, which increases wages amidst Sudan’s rising inflation. Despite almost being halfway through the year, many workers are still paid their old salaries instead of the increased 2022 wage.

Teachers’ strike

The Teachers' Committee of Kassala denounced “the low salaries of teachers in Kassala in comparison with the rest of the states and the discrepancy of salaries between the different localities of Kassala”.

In a statement published on Wednesday, the committee also accused the state government of tampering with their entitlement and rejected the SDG700 per hour set as remuneration for monitoring the basic school final exams.

They also demanded the disbursement of other arrears, stemming all the way from 2020 when the Ministry of Education announced that it would double salaries for teachers to make the profession more attractive.  

In April, teachers in South Darfur and Sennar went on strike to demand the implementation of the new 2022 salary structure and the disbursement of the 2020-2021 promised increased salaries.

The Sudanese Teachers' Committee of neighbouring Red Sea state also criticised the delay in disbursing the bonuses for the monitoring they did more than two weeks ago during the basic school exams. They intend to stage a vigil next Thursday in front of the Education Ministry in Port Sudan to protest the delay in the payment of their dues.

Abdelhamid Talib, head of the teachers’ committee, further told Radio Dabanga that its members categorically reject the formation of steering committees for the Teachers' Union with teachers loyal to the coup regime. They considered this a falsification of the teachers' will.

He affirmed the committee's alignment with the Sudanese people in the coming June 30 processions.

Most of the old trade unions were directly associated with the ousted regime of Omar Al Bashir (1989-2019). They were dissolved in 2019 by the new Council of Ministers, headed by former Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok, as part of legal reforms to dismantle the former dictatorial regime.

Earlier this month, 27 workers’ groups staged a vigil in front of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) offices in Khartoum in protest against plans of the military govt that took power in the October 25 coup to restore the legitimacy of trade unions set up by the ousted regime of dictator Omar Al Bashir.

Anti-police violence demo

On Wednesday, members of the El Kalaklat Emergency Lawyers held a protest vigil in front of the Jebel Awlia locality offices and submitted a memorandum calling for an end to the ongoing police violence against activists and demonstrators in El Kalaklat, a densely populated neighbourhood in south-west Khartoum.

Earlier this month, a young girl was killed in El Kalaklat, being run over by a vehicle belonging to the Central Reserve Police forces. The El Kalaklat and South Khartoum Resistance Committees Coordination said that the police vehicle fled the scene immediately after the incident.

Anti-tribal violence protests

In Singa, the capital of Sennar, members of the Nuba Mountains Association carried out a vigil on Wednesday against the tribal violence in Kassala and in Lagawa and Kadugli in West and South Kordofan.

Allajabo Kitkar, one of the participants in the vigil, told Radio Dabanga that they raised banners denouncing racism and calling for peace and peaceful coexistence among all Sudanese people.