Parliament votes to end strike

The Chadian parliament voted late on Wednesday to meet a demand by the country’s main union for a five percent wage hike, putting in sight an end to the strike which has closed down government offices and healthcare facilities in the capital since early June. “The ministry of finance, sharing the concerns of the finance commission and taking into account the unhealthy social environment, has agreed to a five percent wage increase, backdated to January 2005,” the parliament’s president, Nassour Guelengdouksia, said in a statement. “The unions must now take pity on the suffering people and get back to work,” he added. The head of the healthcare workers wing of the leading Syndicated Union of Chad (UST), Francois Djondang, said the union would need to carefully examine the proposed deal before agreeing. “The government wants to tame us by paying us a salary to assure a minimal level of service,” he said. “We will go back to work if the salaries are paid, but we will continue to engage in actions that concern our sector.” The parliament’s decision was made as it came to light in a budget made public on Wednesday that the government spent over US $60 million in April to repel an attack on the capital N’djamena by rebels opposed to President Idriss Deby, who changed the country’s constitution to let himself run for a third term last May. The UST called a week-long stoppage on 5 June to demand a five percent wage increase it says the government promised its members, which include hospital staff and civil servants, in 2005. Union leaders say they demanded a 50 percent wage increase last year. The government asked them to wait until 2007, and the union says it agreed in exchange for a five percent raise in 2006. The government subsequently refused the wage hike, saying its first priority was to defend the country and the government against armed attacks. In a radio announcement after the parliament’s decision on Wednesday, Prime Minister Pascal Yoadimnadji said the situation caused by the hospital closures was unacceptable. “This needs to stop now,” he said. Strikes over wages are common in Chad, a country which the UN deems the fifth poorest in the world because of factors such as low access to healthcare, short life expectancy and a poor education system. mn/nr/cs