TUN slams government
The Teachers Union of Namibia (TUN) yesterday joined the Namibia National Teachers Union (Nantu) in reminding government that teachers will not accept the proposed 5% increment in salaries.
Nantu has set a 22 August deadline, after government last week asked for time to consult Cabinet on the teachers’ demands.
Describing the proposed 5% as insulting, TUN said their initial demand was 12%.
“The issue of the drought is being put forward by government as the reason for not accepting the demands of the teachers, is not acceptable, because Namibia has a dependency ratio of 69.6, this means roughly ten working Namibians support seven of the non-working vulnerable Namibians of zero to four years old and those older than 65, and this is the group that is mostly severely affected by the drought. Therefore, increasing the teachers’ salaries will help in mitigating the impact of the drought,” TUN said.
Stop reckless spending
The union accused government of engaging in unproductive expenditure. “The government continues to engage in unproductive expenditure such as the construction of new office buildings amidst the drought, activities which can wait until after the drought ends. Therefore, it is inconceivable that government expects teachers to understand its position, while it shows behaviour that does not support its expressed position,” TUN said.
The union said teachers in rural areas are living in makeshift houses that they have constructed themselves, while in urban centres teachers can barely afford decent housing due to skyrocketing property prices created by what they call artificial demand, which the union says is the practice of deliberately servicing a limited number of erven and accelerating urbanisation rates.
“This situation is turning our teachers into squatters and tenants, therefore increasing their salaries will restore their dignity,” the union said.
This week, Nantu confirmed that it had given government seven days to consult with Cabinet after teachers rejected the proposed 5% salary increase.
Last month, the prime minister’s office announced that the proposed 5% increase had been accepted by the other recognised bargaining union, Napwu, whose members have received theirs.
GORDON JOSEPH
Nantu has set a 22 August deadline, after government last week asked for time to consult Cabinet on the teachers’ demands.
Describing the proposed 5% as insulting, TUN said their initial demand was 12%.
“The issue of the drought is being put forward by government as the reason for not accepting the demands of the teachers, is not acceptable, because Namibia has a dependency ratio of 69.6, this means roughly ten working Namibians support seven of the non-working vulnerable Namibians of zero to four years old and those older than 65, and this is the group that is mostly severely affected by the drought. Therefore, increasing the teachers’ salaries will help in mitigating the impact of the drought,” TUN said.
Stop reckless spending
The union accused government of engaging in unproductive expenditure. “The government continues to engage in unproductive expenditure such as the construction of new office buildings amidst the drought, activities which can wait until after the drought ends. Therefore, it is inconceivable that government expects teachers to understand its position, while it shows behaviour that does not support its expressed position,” TUN said.
The union said teachers in rural areas are living in makeshift houses that they have constructed themselves, while in urban centres teachers can barely afford decent housing due to skyrocketing property prices created by what they call artificial demand, which the union says is the practice of deliberately servicing a limited number of erven and accelerating urbanisation rates.
“This situation is turning our teachers into squatters and tenants, therefore increasing their salaries will restore their dignity,” the union said.
This week, Nantu confirmed that it had given government seven days to consult with Cabinet after teachers rejected the proposed 5% salary increase.
Last month, the prime minister’s office announced that the proposed 5% increase had been accepted by the other recognised bargaining union, Napwu, whose members have received theirs.
GORDON JOSEPH
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