Lecturers lay down tools as other workers end strike

At least 300 lecturers in Malian institutions of higher learning laid down their tools on Wednesday as thousands of other workers who had been on a two-day strike resumed work without their demands being met by government. The lecturers who said their strike was a "48-hour warning" to press the government to improve their living and teaching conditions were under the banner of the National Syndicate of Higher Learning (SYNESUP). Classes at the only state-owned University of Mali and six other institutions were vacant as the professors, lecturers and teachers stayed home. "On top of our demands, we are concerned that the new classification system for promotions that was set up in 1992 is now outdated," SYNESUP's general secretary, Lansana Traore told IRIN in the Malian capital, Bamako. He said very few lecturers in the higher institutions of learning had moved up the professional ranks since 1992 because of the outdated classification system. SYNESUP said that Mali, where only 66 percent of youth aged 15-24 were literate in 2000 out of a population of 11 million, was one of the few African countries where university professors and researchers did not receive any government subsidy to attend international conferences, to conduct research and publish their work. The professors do not also receive any housing subsidies. SYNESUP demanded a new salary system, payment of salary arrears, implementation of all government decisions regarding teachers in the last three years and the creation of a commission to evaluate the promotion of teachers. Mali's largest workers' union, the National Union of Malian Workers (UNTM), called a two-day strike on Monday to protest what it said was government failure to improve workers conditions as promised during elections in April 2002, shutting down government offices, schools, businesses, telecommunications and the media. UNTM's secretary-general Siaka Diakite said the government had not met demands for increased minimum salaries, raising the retirement age in the private sector, harmonization of salaries between consultants and full-time workers. It also failed to reduce water, electricity and telephone costs. The workers resumed work on Wednesday, but their officials held a meeting to discuss next steps saying their demands had not been met by the government of President Amadou Toumani Toure.