Weather station strike affects seven airports in Sudan

The staff of the Sudanese Meteorological Corporation has been on strike for seven weeks in Sudan, meanwhile, the nationwide state schoolteachers’ strike entered its eighth week on Sunday. 

After the failure of the meteorological corporation’s management to reach an agreement with the strike committee, the committee announced the continuation of their strike. 

A press statement published by the committee on Sunday announced that seven international and local airports in the country are not receiving weather information. 

It renounced its responsibility for any accidents or disasters that occur or threaten the safety of aviation in Sudan. 

Since the strike began on January 15 “airports and meteorological stations in the country are in complete paralysis,” Kamaleldin Ibrahim, member of the Meteorological Media Committee, told Radio Dabanga on January 22. 

Teachers strike 

The Sudanese Teachers Committee (STC) said that they “sent a message from the teachers” to the Ministry of Finance denouncing the “delay in honouring their rights.” 

On January 26, the committee announced that representatives of the Sovereignty Council and the Finance Ministry agreed to increase the proportion of government spending on education to 14.8 per cent of the 2023 budget, and to immediately implement Cabinet Resolutions 380 and 363. 

The committee also called on the ministry to respond to the rest of their demands. They stated their categorical rejection of Constitutional Decree No. 1 of 2023 issued by the Sovereignty Council, according to which trade unions, syndicates, and the employers’ union were officially suspended. 

The decision sparked mixed reactions among politicians and trade unionists. It came almost two months after the HAC allowed the re-registration of 23 non-governmental organisations and associations which “represent hidden facades” of the dissolved NCP. 

In many places, authorities are hoping to exhaust the striking teachers by not giving in to their demands and suspending classes ahead of the strike action, Sami El Bagir, spokesperson for the STC, explained in January.