Teachers in Gireida, South Darfur, on strike again

Teachers in Gireida locality, South Darfur, embarked on an open-ended strike on Tuesday, in protest against the deduction of their salaries.  

Speaking to Radio Dabanga, teacher Mohamed Abdelrahman, said that the commissioner of Gireida locality did not keep his promise to pay the teachers their entitlements on Tuesday. “Therefore we decided to strike again, until the reduced amounts have been paid.”

He said that Omar Mohamed Ibrahim, member of the Gireida parliament, has called on the locality’s authorities to arrange for the payments to the teachers without delay.

On 23 May, the teachers decided to strike for three days, to give force to their demands to lift the new measure, deducting five percent from their salaries, with the argument that the locality is in need of financial support. They resumed their work after the commissioner promised to pay them their full entitlements.

Adam El Zein, chairman of the Gireida branch of the Teachers’ Union, told Radio Dabanga in May that the five percent was deducted last year, for the period of five months, based on an agreement between the commissioner and the union that the amounts would be reimbursed.

This did not happen. When receiving their April salaries, the teachers discovered that the five percent was deducted again. After they had ended their first strike, the commissioner responded by demanding the dissolution of the union.