Unpaid West Kordofan locality workers down tools

The employees and workers in Babanusa in West Kordofan have entered into an open-ended strike since Wednesday in protest against the non-payment of salaries of October.

A worker told Radio Dabanga that the Commissioner of Babanusa locality threatened the head of the West Kordofan branch of the Workers’ Union with imprisonment him under the State of Emergency measures if the strike continues.

The workers considered the commissioner’s threatening of the workers a flagrant violation of the legitimate workers’ rights to strike as a means of protest.

Liquidity crisis

Sudan has experienced strikes across the country for the last few months by government workers and teachers, who complain that salaries are paid late or not at all.

The teachers’ committee in Sudan’s El Gezira state called-out a strike on Tuesday in various localities because of the delay in payment of their salaries for the month of October.

On October 22, teachers of the basic and higher secondary schools in Bindisi in Central Darfur entered into a strike in protest against the non-payment of their salaries for three months in a row.

One of the teachers told Radio Dabanga at the time: “The strike will last for a week, and if salaries are not paid before next Monday, we will continue to strike until our salaries are paid.”

Kassala

The Ministry of Education in Kassala state has pointed to the growing number of teachers’ resignations due to poor salaries.

A teacher told Radio Dabanga that most young teachers opt to resign because the salaries are disproportionate to inflation and rising prices.

He explained that the old teachers apply for leave without pay to work in professions and other trades that generate a better income than the profession of teaching.

He pointed out that the teacher’s salary does not suffice for more than a few days.

The government of Kassala state has acknowledged the escalation of the resignations of the basic school teachers, describing that as an embarrassing phenomenon.

The director general of education of Kassala state, Ibrahim Hasan, has attributed the phenomenon to the low salaries and the teaching profession’s loss of attraction.

El Obeid

Teachers in Wad Banda locality, west of El Obeid in West Kordofan, laid-down their tools on Ocrober 21. They also protest the absence of payments of their salaries for the month of September.

Also, civil servants, teachers, and other employees in West Kordofan’s Abu Zabad locality entered into a three-day strike on October 15, in objection against the non-payment of their dues.

At the same time teachers in El Saleem and El Duba in Northern State, and in South Darfur started a strike with similar motives.

Previously, several work sectors in West Kordofan complained about the non-payment of salaries due to the lack of banks in their localities. In preceding months, teachers’ strikes erupted in Kassala and El Gezira states, against the deteriorated financial and educational situation. Following the holiday of Eid El Adha, teachers demanded the payment of the holiday grants and salary for August. In El Gezira teachers carried out a sit-in in protest against the government’s decision to close more than 200 schools in the state.