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S. Sudan's labour union demands pay rise amid worsening economic crisis

Xinhua, May 1, 2017 Adjust font size:

The South Sudan Workers and Trade Union on Monday called on the government to implement a pledge to increase salaries for all civil servants by threefold and improve working conditions for employees in the public and private sectors.

George Paul Baya, Secretary for External Relations at the Labour Union said the government failed to fully implement its promise as only civil servants working for the central government got the salary hike while those in the local governments and private sector still remain unchanged despite worsening economic crisis.

Baya also accuses the government of failing to regulate the private sector, which he says is found of exploiting its employees in different forms.

"These days or this year, our employees are suffering too much because of the high prices in market. As we celebrate the Labor Day, people are suffering too much because of the little salaries they are getting," Baya said.

"We urge the government to do its level best and do something that will improve the lives of all workers in the country. All masters must serve their servants with equality and justice," he added.

The South Sudan government in January 2016 announced a 300 percent pay rise for all public employees in the country and also instructed the private sector to pay minimum wage of 2,000 South Sudan Pounds (SSP), about 13 U.S. dollars after the SSP was devalued late 2015.

But the government failed to implement the pay rise prompting Judges, University lecturers and Primary School teachers to stage several strikes last year over pay rise, poor working conditions, among others.

However, Mary Hilary Wani, the Undersecretary in the Ministry of Labour and Public Service said the government is handicapped to implement the new wage reforms because of the economic situation facing South Sudan.

She added that it is in the interest of the labor ministry to ensure that the employees and people of South Sudan enjoy the best services ever but that would only come if there is economic stability.

"Because of the falling oil prices, the revenue is no longer there. But we are trying to diversify the economy of the country, once it is done, then we will be able to increase the salaries and also tackle the private sector to improve the conditions of working for the people," Wani said.

War-torn South Sudan depends on oil revenue for 98 percent of its budget, but production reduced significantly due to civil war that erupted in 2013, causing most oilfields in the country's oil-rich northern to shut down as production fell to below 130,000 barrels per day (bpd) from 350,000 bpd.

The east African nation is currently battling hyper inflation and cash shortage that has rendered the government unable to timely pay its huge armed forces and civil servants amid shortage of foreign reserves to support imports. Endit