Despite demonstrations of pressure from students, Cusems and Saemss have not yet decided to give up the strike. They begin this Monday, their 7th action plan to push the government to respect the agreements of 2018 and correct the “inequalities” in the system of remuneration of civil servants.
By Aliou DIALLO
The anger of the students of Senegal in the street will have given nothing. The Cusems and the Saemss chain the slogans of strike to demand the correction of the remuneration system in the Public Service, the respect of the memorandum of understanding of April 30, 2018. They decreed today, a walkout at 9 a.m. followed by National Assemblies of establishments. Tuesday and Wednesday, the end of classes is announced at the same time, 9 am. On Thursday, trade unionists will go on total strike for this 7th action plan. In the same vein, the maintenance of the boycott of all evaluations, physical education and sports activities and educational cells, remains intact. A national march of Senegalese teachers is scheduled for February 17 in Ziguinchor, in the south of the country.
Last Wednesday, students from public colleges and high schools in Senegal organized a national march to demand the return of their teachers to their classrooms. In Dakar, Kaolack, Mbour, Mbacké, among other cities, the schoolboys have shouted their dissatisfaction with the silence of the State on the demands of teachers, who have been on strike for almost four months. In the capital, they were dispersed with tear gas canisters at Place de la Nation, formerly Obelisk, in Colobane. In 2018, the most representative unions, through their general secretaries and Mahammad Boun Abdallah Dionne, the then Prime Minister, held several meetings for solutions to the crisis that has been shaking the Senegalese education system for years.
Admitted to the negotiating table on the basis of representativeness elections, the member unions of the G7 are holding a press briefing today. After several meetings with the Prime Minister before the abolition of this post, the question of the housing allowance still remains the sticking point. The government agreed to increase the compensation from 60,000 to 75,000, an increase of 15,000 CFA francs. Sum that trade unionists always find derisory. Other points are the question of gateways, administrative delays, payment of reminders.
In the meantime, negotiations have not yet started. With the restoration of the Prime Minister’s post, the discussions could help to calm the social climate at school.
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