Teachers’ strikes: Why is it all promises and little action?

In 2011, teachers negotiated their salary increment following a sit-down strike that paralysed studies in all public schools. The government team headed by the then prime minister, Amama Mbabazi, promised a phased increment in three consecutive financial years. However, to date, the teachers are still asking government to fulfil this promise.

In fact earlier last month, teachers threatened to go on strike after their demand was not presented in the 2019/2020 Budget. They accused government of double standards.

“It is unfortunate that teachers’ issues have turned into a song on auto replay. Almost every financial year, teachers remind government about commitments earlier made. Do teachers really matter in this nation? Are commitments made by government mere boardroom gimmicks meant to silence teachers?” Filbert Baguma, the Uganda National Teachers Union (Unatu) general secretary, asked.

Unatu is demanding that government fulfils its promise as signed in the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) in 2017 to enhance salaries of teachers in U17 salary scale from Shs469,000 to Shs600,000, U6 from Shs550, 000 to Shs670,000; U4 from Shs670,000 to Shs1.1m and U5 science teachers from Shs800,000 to Shs1.2m.
For primary school head teachers and graduate arts teachers in U4 scale, they agreed to raise their salary from the current Shs919,000 to Shs1.7m while graduate science teachers in the same scale would rise from Shs1.2m to Shs2.2m.

But President Museveni asked the teachers to suspend their industrial action for the whole term and promised to meet them in July to brief them on the next course of action. But this has been a back-and-forth scenario for the past seven years.

Disharmony
The government has struggled to meet spending commitments since the donors cut aid over corruption allegations in 2014. Last year, teachers of science subjects were considered for increased salaries for the first time since Uganda last reviewed civil servants’ pay in the 2013/14 Financial Year.

Grade V and graduate science teachers now earn Shs1,728,007 and Shs2m in salaries per month respectively. A deputy head teacher in the same school earns Shs1,767,633 per month, just a little above the Grade V teacher. The head of such a school earns Shs2,050,000 per month.
This was a big promise that got teachers’ hopes up as teachers’ pay raises made headlines, yet Unatu was not impressed because other teachers’ were left out. “There is no amount of money enough for any person but such an increase creates disharmony,” Raymond Asare Owot, the head teacher of St. Adolf Tibeyalirwa Secondary School, Muhoro, Kagadi District, opined.

“If the Arts subjects teachers remain at their current pay of Shs472,079 (Grade V) and Shs601,341 per month (graduate) then every month the Grade V Science teacher will earn a whooping Shs1.3m more than their Arts counterpart and Shs1.4m for the graduates. How can these two persons teach in the same school, teach the same classes and share the same staffroom?” he asked.
Baguma said the Union has worked hard to see that salaries of teachers are increased but stressed that teachers in urban areas still need a bump in pay.
“The bigger issue for the pay raise is all a matter of respect for the profession. When teachers are not valued, then we will have a bleak future,” he said.

Supplementing
Joseph Segawa, a History teacher in Rakai District, said he has always had a second job since he started teaching in 2002. He said teachers deserve competitive wage compensation.
“It is definitely an important issue,” Segawa said. “All I would ask for is that we are funded to keep pace with inflation.” Although Segawa teaches in Rakai, he spends his weekends in Wakiso near Kampala overseeing his rental house projects in Kirinya and Bukerere.
Lack of a common voice may also be a hindering factor among teachers, basing on the latter’s submission. Despite being a teacher for 12 years, Justine Tushabe, a teacher at St. Mary’s College Lugazi is not aware whether even teachers in private schools can subscribe to Unatu. Yet Baguma stresses that belonging to a union is voluntary but Unatu is their common pool for negotiations.

Emotionally difficult
Teachers have talked about the difficulties of managing a double lifestyle.
A typical teaching week for Segawa starts with his morning commute to Buyamba SS in Rakai from Kirinya in Wakiso District at 4am. His contract states that he has to be at school by 7am and off work by 5pm. He stays in Rakai until Friday afternoon when he drives to Kampala.
“You must have a thick skin because when you age no one will mind about how you were living miserably as a teacher,” Segawa, who has taught for 15 years, said.

He wants to continue teaching but questions what the future holds.
“I am not ready to leave the classroom yet, but at the same time I have to switch jobs for a better income,” he said.
Similarly, Modison Wabuna, a head teacher at Bukalasi Primary School, says it is even more difficult for primary school teachers to run side businesses because they spend a lot of time in school and instead opt to acquire loans.
“We have multiple loans and many end up running up and down for fear of getting arrested,” he says.

What’s next?
Segawa said Unatu’s collective bargaining power is weak because of political manipulations.
“They cannot have a common ground because the level of unemployment is very high and the teachers fear to be deleted from the payroll, which would guarantee them obvious retirement bonuses,” he states. “Teachers can only find alternative jobs to be able to retire happily.”

Perhaps this is the reason why Moses Buyela, a head teacher at Mbale S.S says, “Some teachers in Mbale run side businesses. Farming is a favourite activity especially upcountry,” he says, adding: “Some teachers have acquired loans and bought motorcycles which they rent out as boda bodas and the largest percentage of teachers, especially in secondary schools engage in part time jobs in private schools. These are paid between Shs100,000 and Shs500,000, depending on experience and location of the school.”

Timeline
In 2011, teachers laid down their tools demanding a 100 per cent increment. Other demands included an increment in science allowance, increment in capitation grants and its timely release. That year government promised to give 50 per cent of the demands, but it later did not honour the promise in the subsequent years, resulting in more industrial action.

Later, government promised a three phased increase of the salaries in the next three financial years. The three installments of the increment would include 15, 20 and 15 per cent.
The first phase was paid in the 2012/13 Financial Year and science teachers in post primary education and training institutions received a 30 per cent increase in wages. But later government defaulted on the 20 per cent, pitting teachers against government in a strike in August 2013 after the money had not been included in the 2013/14, with government insisting there was no money.
By the time the two parties came to an agreement, teachers demanded to be paid 25 per cent instead of 20 per cent for the government’s failure to honour the agreements. Eventually government later honoured its obligation.

Since 2011, government had failed to honour its promise of paying teachers the last installment of the 15 per cent increment which Baguma says was last received this Financial Year for the last batch of teachers who had not yet received.
The NRM Presidential Manifesto Education sector progress report states that whereas there’s a projected increase of the Education budget to Shs3.2 trillion, teachers in primary schools will not get a salary increment after receiving an increment from Shs280,000 to Shs460,000.
With critical sectors to finance such as Defence and infrastructure, government has always told teachers to be patient.

Proposed new scales
As for the recently called off strike, Baguma wanted government to fulfill the 50 per cent salary increment.
U7 salary scale from Shs469,000 to Shs600,000, U6 from Shs550, 000 to Shs670,000, U5 from Shs588,000 to Shs1.1m and U4 primary head teachers from Shs703,000 to Shs1.7m.

For graduate arts teachers in U4 scale, they agreed to raise their salary from the current Shs566,000 to Shs1.1m while graduate science teachers in the same scale would rise from Shs860,000 to Shs2.2m.
Science teachers at senior level in U3 were set at Shs2.3m from Shs1.1m, U2 science teachers at principal level will get Shs2.4m from Shs2m, secondary head teachers and heads of certificate awarding institutions were both raised to Shs2.6m from Shs1.9m.

Case of private schools
When Justine Tushabe, a teacher at St. Mary’s College, Lugazi, is not in class delivering lessons, you will find her planning for what students will eat. In addition to her full-time job as an Entrepreneurship and Commerce teacher, she works as a matron and canteen manager. But that is not enough. “In private schools one must put their hands on several projects to pull together resources,” she said. She is not alone. Most of the teachers at her school must take another source of income to make ends meet. “Some write books which are recommended as study aids.” She is also a member of the school SACCO which is now valued at Shs100m since it started in 2016.

External factors
In fighting. Earlier last week, Daily Monitor ran an article on how science teachers were proposing to a break away from Unatu. Peter Okello, the national coordinator for science teachers accused the body leaders of sabotage and betraying their demand for a better pay. He accused its leadership of opposing an increase of science teachers’ salaries without giving them a reason which he termed as the “worst form of betrayal”. Okello says their parallel union will be named, National Mathematics and Science Teachers’ Union.
Private players. But also externally, the influx of many private schools which privately manage their own affairs and also open their schools during teachers’ strikes leave government teachers at a disadvantage. In fact more parents are increasingly enrolling children.in private schools.

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