Parliament deserves to be commended for finally waking up from its slumber and intervening on the ongoing national public service strike that has abruptly grounded and collapsed the economy for almost two months.
It had become necessary; however belated for parliamentarians across the political divide to come together and forge a permanent solution to the nationwide strike that had morphed into a national crisis.
As representatives of the people, it was time that the parliamentarians put their political differences aside and hammered out a solution that sought to break the impasse between the disgruntled striking workers and embattled government for the sake of public good if not public interest.
At its Friday General Assembly, parliament resolved that the striking workers accept the three percent salary increase awarded by government and in turn return to work.
It further resolved that government reinstate all the dismissed essential service employees in addition to waving the “no-work-no-pay”.
Parliament’s view is that the parties resolve through negotiations the issue on the ‘no-work-no-pay” policy.
Parliament intervention was long overdue given that the nation had suffered long enough as a result of the indefinite strike.
By taking a united stand on the issue, parliament has passed the ball back to the public service union and the executive arm of government.
We hope that as much as the unions had already showed signs of compromise, government would be ready to meet them half way by agreeing to the resolutions passed by the parliamentary general assembly. Our Parliament’s resolutions are in our view reasonable and thy present a noble opportunity to bring the impasse to an end.
This is not the time to apportion blame on any party involved in the impasse. It is time to reflect on public interest and ensure that egos that had played themselves out during the negotiations are buried so as to move the country and economy forward.
It’s irrefutable that the economy has taken a serious knock on the back of the strike. It is also beyond doubt that having gone for three solid years without a salary increase, government workers endured the brunt of increased cost of living.
It will not be wrong to assume that both negotiating teams were inexperienced in the current negotiations and that the current impasse is used by both as a learning curve in order to avoid a recurrence in the future.
It is only hoped that both teams will from now on seek education and training on how to handle such complex issues by sponsoring their teams to appropriate courses so that next time they are fully equipped.
When two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers and in the current situation, it is the general public that suffered.
We believe both government and its employees are aware of the suffering that the public has been subjected to as a result of the indefinite strike.
As earlier noted, we are not in a position to blame either party. We just urge both parties to ensure that when they return to the negotiating table, they put their egos aside and consider public interest.
It is a fact that government has taken a serious knock from the recent economic downturn. But it is also a fact that the public service employees have been hit hard by the ever rising cost of commodities especially food and oil prices.
As it is now, the ball is really on the government’s court. We hope that government will rise to the occasion, play the ball accordingly and swallow its pride by accepting the resolutions adopted by parliament.
