Zambian teachers end strike

The Herald, October 7, 1980
THE Zambia National Union of Teachers ordered its members into the classrooms yesterday after earlier threatening a nationwide walkout in support of higher wage calls.

A teachers’ strike which started in Chingola and closed all schools there and in Kabwe, and most schools in Ndola, now appears to have been stopped.

In the wake of these latest moves, the Zambian government admitted there may be something wrong with its Local Administration Bill and considering a rethink on it.

Unionists claim proposals in the Bill are a danger to democracy as they involve the appointment of regional administrators and not their election. Now Zambia’s Secretary for Political and Legal Affairs, Mr Reuben Kamhga, says if it is necessary, his party “would not hesitate to call for an emergency general conference so the matter can be sorted out”.

But Zambian railway workers are still bitter about pay and working conditions. Riot police fired teargas at the striking workers at Kabwe last week as more than 600 demonstrated outside the gates of Zambian Railways’ maintenance workshops.

Zambia’s industrial row started about a week ago when Zambian Congress of Trade Unions leader, Mr Fred Chiluba, called for a general strike before the end of the year if workers’ living standards were not improved.

Now the government has called on Mr Chiluba to declare his real intentions in the controversy he has created and has demanded he looks after the welfare of his workers and leaves politics to the administration.

LESSONS FOR TODAY

Education is the backbone to development. When teachers go on strike, it’s a major blow to both industry and commerce.

It is good that the Zambian government was quick to identify the causes behind the industrial action, which averted strike action, nation-wide.

A number of African politicians came to prominence through trade unionism.

Late Zambian President and leader of MMD Party Frederick Jacob Titus Chiluba was one of them. After leading the trade union movement, he was the first multi-party President to be elected in 1991 a move that saw UNIP led by Dr Kenneth Kaunda being removed from power.