True to their word on Monday, the public servants started a ten-day strike action.
Although it is still too early to say, indications are that a majority of eligible public servants have participated. Our view as a newspaper has remained that strike action by trade unions should only be deployed as a last weapon of resort.
Such a weapon should be used when all other avenues have failed to yield any form of results.
Most importantly, a strike action should only be used when negotiations between the parties have failed.
We will not be joining those who either condemn or endorse the strike.
Our position remains that this particular strike is grossly unfortunate.
We say so because it is our deeply held belief that it could have been avoided.
Although the DPS is an employer by law, it goes without saying that the director does not enjoy absolute power to negotiate on behalf of Government, especially on issues that have financial implications.
When it comes to public finances, real power resides chiefly with the State President, and, to a lesser extent, with the Minister of Finance.
Thus immediately President Ian Khama went into the countryside to announce at a Kgotla meeting that Government would not be increasing the salaries, whatever negotiations that continued between the DPSM and the trade unions were doomed to fail.
We have no wish to allege that the Ms Festinah Bakwena, who is the Director, negotiated in bad faith.
But to the contrary, we are well aware that although she is recognised as employer, she herself is employed by the President and the Permanent Secretary to the President, both of whom had undermined her by preempting the outcomes of her negotiations by ruling out any meaningful salary increases.
It has come as a surprise to us that after literally overruling the Director, the President then continued to visit his usual destinations in the Okavango and Makgadikgadi.
We have no wish to interfere with the Presidentís lifestyle.
But we would have hoped that at least for the time being, given the gravity of the issue at hand such as the one the country is currently seized with, the State President would, at least for a short while, try to suspend his ways of spending most of his time on aeroplanes visiting exotic tourist sites across the country.
That has not been the case.
It is our understanding that on Monday morning just when the situation called for his direct, hands on intervention, the President flew out of town, on yet another of his pastime sojourns.
That, we think has been a very clear case of bad judgment by the President. He should have stayed here like the general he is and fought the battle from the frontlines.
This is particularly so because any decision that is taken by his representatives, including the Vice President, would still have to be bounced with him for final approval and or disapproval.
While we wholly understand and appreciate the grievances of trade unions, we want to point out to them that the condition of the economy at the moment would not accommodate their demands.
Of course trade unions are all the more annoyed by the leadershipís misplaced priorities as well as corruption at the top echelons of Government.
But even then, given that the economy is just emerging from a very deep recession, and that whatever recovery we have had so far remains fragile, we would have imagined that as a sign of maturity trade unions would hold on for a few months as requested by Government, rather than risk driving the country back into recession.
It is clear that at play are the egos of two sides, where neither is humble enough to listen to the other.
That, we think is very unfortunate.
We call on President Khama to cut short his getaway, come back to town and parley with trade unions, if not for the sake of his government, then for the sake of the country and Batswana who stand to lose out from his behavior and that of the trade unions.
To the trade unions, especially the leadership, we request them to approach Government with an open mind, notwithstanding the contempt they have suffered at the hands of the President.
