Eight labour unions offer support to Bozize

Eight labour union confederations in the Central African Republic have offered their full support to the country’s new leader, Francois Bozize, who seized power on 15 March from President Ange-Felix Patasse, whom the unionists accused of neglecting their social demands.

"Today we reaffirm solemnly that we are going to offer the support necessary so that your noble mission cannot fail," Sandoz Oualanga, chairman of the Centrale nationale des travailleurs centrafricain, told Bozize during a meeting on Tuesday. Oualanga said that a peaceful demonstration would be organised soon to show that support.

A similar march organised by the Concertation des parties politiques d'opposition of Prime Minister Abel Goumba is scheduled to take place on Friday, in Bangui, the capital.

Civil servants have not been paid for some 30 months. Many union confederations, such as the teachers or the medical personnel unions, have repeatedly called indefinite strikes to press their demands for pay. A representative of the Union syndicale des travailleurs centrafricain told Bozize during the meeting that the union would continue to present its demands.

Bozize told the unionists that he recognised there were major difficulties, including the salary issue. In his first speech to the nation in Sangho, the local language, Bozize said on 16 March that he was not a "miracle maker". But he promised the unionists to do his best to solve the problem and urged union leaders to call their members back to work.