Day one of indefinite general strike widely respected

The normally bustling streets of the Guinean capital Conakry came to a standstill on Thursday as, for the second time this year, the population has widely backed a general strike called by workers’ unions. Schools, offices, shops and banks remained shuttered in the tired and broken down streets of Conakry. Hospitals offered only the most basic of emergency services as Guineans once again protested their falling standards of living. In an eleventh hour bid to break the strike, Interior Minister and newly designated government spokesman Moussa Solano announced wage rises for government workers on state television and radio. But the increases, which were re-broadcast in local languages on Thursday, cut little ice, translating into an increment of less than US $1 a month for most civil servants. Taiidou Diallo of the USTG, the main teacher’s union, rejected the announcement, adding that her organisation had not been made privy to the decision despite ongoing discussions between unions, business representatives and the government. “We are one of the parties in negotiations with the government and we do not recognise this announcement by the Interior Minister,” Diallo told IRIN. Diallo said that the strike, which unions say will go on indefinitely until their demands are met, has been similarly successful in the Guinean countryside. This could not be immediately confirmed. Guinea, despite vast natural resources, is one of the world’s poorest countries. With inflation at nearly 30 percent and the local currency’s value falling daily, the cost of a 50-kilogram sack of rice is spiralling out of control to over US $25 – more than half of a civil servant’s monthly wage. A week-long strike called at the end of February paralysed Conakry. Unions claimed victory when the government promised salary increases for government workers and a new minimum wage for everyone else. But those measures have not alleviated the grinding poverty of most Guineans and this time unions have called for a reduction in fuel prices and the national staple food, rice. Alpha Sow, a fabric trader at Conakry’s medina market, was among the majority of market traders who opted to stay at home on Thursday, saying that he would not be open for business until the government took heed of the people’s demands. “Most people are standing by the unions until their demands are met,” said Sow. “We are suffering too much.”