Teachers strike in South Darfur over non-payment and salary cut

The teachers and working staff of the basic schools at the locality of Rahad El Berdi in South Darfur have called a strike over the non-payment of their salaries from October. The head of the Education Union of the locality, told Radio Dabanga that 316 education employees have not yet received their salaries. The teachers and the working staff have denounced the ministry of education’s failure to pay them their salaries, along with the repeated non-payment of other financial dues. The delay of payment is amounting to SDG36 million ($6,25 million), including the promotions and allowances for the locality’s teachers and workers. The reason behind this is the ministry of finance’s “undisciplined spending in Nyala and Bielel besides restricting payment of salaries”, according to the head of the Education Union. Civil servants in both South and East Darfur have threatened on 12 November to go on strike over non-payment of the salaries from October as well.TullusThe Education Union members in the South Darfur locality of Tullus have begun an open-ended strike in protest against salary cuts.The head of the Education Union in Tullus, Siddeeg Mohamed Abdelaziz, said in comments cited by Khartoum newspapers on Monday that the locality deducted five per cent -equivalent to SDG22 ($3.83)- a month from the teachers’ salaries for a period of eight months.The gains of the deduction are supposed to cover the deficit in the locality’s salaries in total.The Education Union deducts SDG3 ($0.52) from each teacher’s salary per month.File photo: Secondary school in North Darfur (Albert González Farran/Unamid)Related: East and South Darfur civil servants threaten to strike (12 November 2013)