The much touted public sector strike, which gripped Botswana and ground government services to a halt, has finally come to pass. The leaders of the public sector unions have run out of steam.
While they initially vowed to go all the way in their battle with government, it is now evident that the Ian Khama administration had more stamina than they do.
After eight weeks of a bare knuckled political brawl, in which students rioted while their parents burned tyres and looted shops, the battle weary leaders of Botswana Federation of Public Sector Unions (BOFEPUSU) finally called for a time out and suspended the strike.
“We never thought the strike would go on for this long. It was evident that our members were beginning to get fatigued. Many of them were trekking back to work. Some of our workers were also financially crippled,” BOFEPUSU Labour Secretary Johnson Motshwarakgole told The Telegraph on Monday.
But the announcement, made last week after incidences of violence erupted throughout the country, was met with disdain by the public servants. They accused their leadership of selling out to government. They even called on them to resign so that a new leadership should be roped in to take the strike forward. But the leadership stood their ground, saying they were only implementing the resolution of BOFEPUSU’s recent congress, which called on them to try by all means to ensure that dismissed essential services employees are returned to work.
Motshwarakgole said he has faith that government will re-employ all the dismissed workers, despite indications by the Director of Public Service Management Festinah Bakwena that some of the essential services had already been outsourced while others were filled by replacement labour.
In the last few weeks, anticipation heightened as it emerged that negotiations to end the deadlock were in earnest. Members of Parliament, church leaders and former presidents had all come to the party to try and hammer out a truce. Batswana held their collective breath in anticipation. The all party parliamentary caucus drafted recommendations for approval by President Ian Khama. People were somewhat relieved when the media showed pictures of cabinet minister Mokgweetsi Masisi and the BOFEPUSU leadership hugging in reconciliation. But the people’s hopes were dashed when, the very next day, government spat on the recommendations and snubbed mediation efforts by former President Ketumile Masire.
Usually a fiery and stubborn lot, the trade union leaders had bent over backwards and literally grovelled at government in surrender. They agreed to abandon their current legal battles with government, and that dismissed essential services employees would be given final written warnings and reinstated. They even agreed to offer a public apology for the strike. Clearly, the fire spitting and no nonsense trade union leaders had been reduced to mere beggars. It was evident that they all sought an end to the public sector impasse.
While the nation was reeling in shock, President Ian Khama jetted off to the United States, leaving behind a country on the brink of chaos. Irate public servants then took to the streets. The stink of tear gas filled the air as police clashed with striking employees who burned tires, blocked traffic and wantonly looted shops and businesses. After a week of terror, close to one hundred public servants were remanded in custody.
“We had to suspend the strike because we were not sure if such acts of violence were occasioned by our members or by security agents who had infiltrated us,” said Motshwarakgole.
But the workers would not have any of it. In an uncharacteristic attack on the leadership, the striking public servants, who hitherto had held their leaders in exaltation and awe, immediately named them as sell outs.
By Friday, the union leaders, who were by then in tenterhooks, convened an ad hoc meeting at which they agreed to suspend the strike, despite repeated dissent from their members. In any case, said Motswarakgole, the strike was not necessarily over, but merely suspended so that the public servants could go back to work and re-strategise.
He explained that the strike remains legal, and that they will institute other means of exerting pressure on government. For example, they would at the end of every month embark on a long weekend strategy, through which they would stay away from work on Mondays and Fridays.
But the workers were very wary of the sudden camaraderie between union leaders and government. By Monday, many of them refused to return to work. They gathered at the morula tree and declared that they will soldier on, with or without their leaders. They ignored threats by Bakwena that they risk stern disciplinary action if they ignore calls for them to return to work. In retaliation, Bakwena immediately ordered supervisors to establish attendance registers so that those who refused to return to work are severely dealt with. It was now the workers against government. The union leaders were conspicuous in their absence. By Monday afternoon, government deployed the police to disperse those who were refusing to return to work. Indications are that government services will be in full swing sooner than later. The strike had dissipated.
Within a few days, the much touted public sector strike, which would “bring government operations to a standstill”, had dissolved into a disjointed and disorganised exercise. The labour unions, once a united and powerful force, has now become a limping and crippled organisation whose members have somewhat lost faith in their leadership.
“There is nothing we can do to dispel rumours that we have been bought. Those are just meant to discredit us. But the people must know that our decision to suspend the strike was made in their interests,” insists Motshwarakgole.
He dismisses insinuations that the labour movement is disjointed as wishful thinking.
“The fact is that we learnt a lot from this strike. More than anything, the strike is living proof that workers can stand up as a united force to fight against the injustices of the establishment. I believe we are more united now than ever,” said Motshwarakgole.
But the voices of dissent cannot be ignored. There are those who still feel that their leaders have betrayed them. Moreso because the workers return to work with nothing. Their friends have lost their jobs. Others are facing court cases that might result in them being jailed. They climbed down from an initial 16 percent to a meagre 3 percent. Even that now remains a mirage. Those who have been dismissed are beginning to live up to the reality of possible unemployment. Government is balking at the thought of implementing the three percent salary increment in pyramid form. There are no guarantees that in future, if union leaders rally their members to undertake another strike action, they will be able to rouse the workers up as they did before.
The cracks are wide, and the voices of dissent more vocal, within the labour movement. Simply put, the public servants are weakened, divided and demoralised. The unions like to remind their detractors that their strength lies in their numbers. But now their numbers are weakened because there are some within their midst who are greatly disgruntled by the suspension. There are also some who have lost faith in the power of the unions. An injury to one was no longer an injury to all.
Government has managed to out-last trade union leaders. With their 90 000 strong membership, the unions thought they will be able to exert pressure on government, and on the political leadership of the country, to listen to their demands and to capitulate within no time. What they did not bank on was that government would also be resilient and match them pound for pound. They never thought the strike will take as long as it took. Even if government might have also miscalculated the resilience of the workers, at least she was able to recover and change tact.
Throughout the public sector strike, the man who was largely considered to be the general, who marshalled his charges and formulated government’s attack and defence strategies, was President Ian Khama. To many of the striking public servants, and indeed to many Batswana, Khama will remain as the man who steadfastly refused to pander to the whims of the striking public servants. Even before the strike was launched, he declared that there will be no public sector salary increase. He refused to meet with the union leaders and spurned mediation efforts by former presidents. He made public utterances in which he boldly declared that he was not fazed by the striking public servants, and that they can strike for as long as they want.
He was especially enraged by the way in which the public sector strike was annexed by opposition political parties, and the increasingly audible calls for regime change. That strengthened his resolve. He would quash the strike. To him, the issue was not salary increases, but concerted efforts to usurp his ruling government. Even when acts of violence erupted, he seemed not to care.
He never addressed the nation about the strike, and when he eventually did, he largely ranted and raved about the inclusion of opposition political parties in the strike.
Eventually, Khama’s resolve and will of steel outlasted the morale and momentum of the union leaders. He snubbed efforts at reconciliation and, without batting an eyelid went off to the USA.
The unions were left with mouths agape. Their resources were overstretched. The union leaders were battle weary. And Ian Khama was still running on top gear. He was raring to go and ready to fight to the bitter end. Battle weary, battered, and severely humiliated by Khama’s refusal to acknowledge their reconciliation overtures, the union leaders mooted the idea of suspending the strike. It is doubtful if they will ever be able to rally thousands of workers as they did during the strike.
The suspension of the strike signals an end to an industrial action that roused the workers against a sleeping giant, who eventually sat back and watched them as they ranted and raved. He sat back as Motswharakgole et al ranted and raved, picketed and screamed revolution songs, until they finally collapsed in exhaustion. Ian Khama’s will of steel has beat the workers solidarity hands down.
