At the time that I sat down to write this piece on Monday afternoon, it had been reported that the Botswana Federation of Public Service Unions (BOFEPUSU) has accepted government’s three percent offer in salary increment. Infact, from the look of things, it appears BOFEPUSU, and not government, came begging for that meagre increment. Things must be really tough for union leaders.
Their bargaining powers have been dealt a terrible blow by the expulsion of some of their members from work by government. They are now negotiating, or should I say begging from a weakened and desperate corner because whatever request they put to the government, their primary hope of achievement is the reinstatement of the sacked employees.
They now have to fight for the reinstatement of the sacked employees first and the wage increment thereafter or even never. The Industrial Court judge who ruled that some employees should go back to work has ruined everything for the unions, atleast for now. It has come to a point where the government now calls the shots. Even if government was to tell the striking workers to go back to work without any increment in return of the reinstatement of their expelled colleagues, the striking workers would have no choice but to give in to such a call. Those workers were expelled for standing by, and giving support to their colleagues in the struggle and now will be the time for the striking workers to return the favour, should government come up with such a suggestion where going back to work guarantees the reinstatement of the expelled workers.
Truth be told, the strike owes its momentum and impact to the expelled workers who defied the
court order. I can never imagine any impact and morale that could have remained in the strike had the so called essential workers not defied the court order. Much as government could afford to have Ipelegeng workers as the alternative workforce in many affected government offices, the paupers could never exchange grass slashers for stethoscopes. The school dropouts engaged at Ipelegeng could never replace the sacked dentists, nurses, technicians and allied health workers. This is why the remaining workers should remain grateful to those so called essential workers who pinched government where it hurt most. If at all government has realized how serious this strike was, it was largely to the impact played out by the sacked workers’ defiance of the court order which wanted them back at work despite their disgruntlement. Government could afford to dispatch soldiers and police officers at schools but the men in uniform cannot exchange guns and batons for chalk.
You see, I am reluctant to believe there are any negotiations going on between government and BOFEPUSO because, unless Eric Molale and Mokgweetsi Masisi are liars, Khama’s government has halted the negotiations. Eric Molale, Permanent secretary to the president, issued a press statement informing the nation that government has decided to cease forthwith the negotiations with the unions. The Minister of Presidential Affairs and Public Administration, Mokgweetsi Masisi in his briefing notes for members of the diplomatic community on public service strike, on the 26th May, concluded his briefing with these words, “Although the public service strike is ongoing for an indefinite period, the government has indicated her intention to suspend the salary negotiations until all employees return to work”. To the best of my knowledge, the workers are still not back at work and as such I don’t understand why we are made to believe government has changed its mind. Of course it would be a welcome development if government has rescinded its decision to walk out of the negotiations. The Union leaders are said to have attached some conditions to their request for a three percent increment. They will only accept the three percent on the basis that the expelled so called essential workers are reinstated to their jobs. They also want the ‘no work no pay’ rule done away with.
I have made some observations in the impasse between the unions and the government. It appears while most government officials involved in the negotiations are willing and ready to negotiate in good faith, the real impediment is the State President. Those who claim to have inside information on the goings-on within the government enclave tell us of how the majority of President Khama’s cabinet ministers felt the government should accede to calls for public service wage increase but the president would have none of that as he felt his ego would be compromised. As far as he is concerned, he would be looked at as a coward who gave in to the demands of unions and opposition leaders. It is said the president felt were he to agree to the increment after vehemently arguing that there is no money, he would be seen as a liar. We are also told of how the president initially took the strike lightly and even gave the example of teachers who vowed to boycott the marking of student examinations last year but many of them ended up turning up at the marking centres.
You just need to observe Khama’s approach towards the current strike to believe as true such rumours about him. His demeanor at those Kgotla meetings whenever he talks about the strike point to a leader who is all out to prove indeed he is ‘the big lion’. It must be frustrating for government negotiators to be given the mandate to negotiate while the final say rests with the President. I can only hope this time around the president will keep a distance because his nose-poking in the past has led to the collapse of previous negotiations. I can only pray and hope the president will swallow his pride and do away with his vindictiveness and accept back the expelled workers. The president should not look at the striking workers as delinquents. He should not, even for a moment, be fooled into believing the striking workers all belong to opposition parties or are acting on instructions from opposition parties. Such silly thinking will cloud his judgment and frustrate any efforts towards an amicable solution to the current impasse. He should now approach the workers as his countrymen and he should bear in mind that he is not only the president for the BDP but for the entire Botswana and all Batswana. Unless and until the president comes to terms with the fact that he is running a country and not the barracks, it will forever be hard for him to accept that people do not always have to agree with their leaders. My last request to BOFEPUSU and its members is for them not to abandon their colleagues at this time of need. They must do all in their power to persuade or even force the government to reinstate the expelled workers. An injury to one should be an injury to all.
