The Government has given all striking teachers in government-aided schools a two-day ultimatum to resume their duties or forget about their jobs.

Catherine Bitarakwate, the Ministry of Public Service permanent secretary, in a letter to the general secretary of the Uganda National Teachers’ Union (UNATU) yesterday, said anyone who will not have returned to work by tomorrow (Friday) will be fired.

“All government-employed teachers are advised to resume duty at their respective workstations by June 24, 2022, without fail. Any government[1]employed teacher who does not comply with this call will be regarded as having abandoned duty, resigned from public service under Section A-N (17) of the Uganda Public Service Standing Orders 2021,” Bitarakwate said.

“The teachers who are not willing to work under the prevailing terms and conditions are free to withdraw their labor as provided for under Section A-N (11) of the Public Service Standing Orders. Those who do not agree to any of the above are advised to seek legal redress in the courts of law,” the permanent secretary said.

Bitarakwate was responding to UNATU’s letter, dated May 25, 2022, and UNATU’s press release dated June 11, 2022, calling for industrial action by all their members with effect from June 15, 2022, on grounds that included discriminatory salary enhancement and failure by the Government to honor the collective bargaining agreement signed in 2018.

“The Government wishes to reiterate its commitment towards salary enhancement for all public officers. This is evidenced by the phased salary enhancements that have so far been achieved, whose implementation will continue within the available resources. For example, in the last two years we have had to put aside other priorities to deal with survival in the face of COVID-19 and not an enhancement of salaries,” Bitarakwate said.

She said the current enhancement for the science teachers’ salaries was informed by the available resources, the number of teachers involved, and the impact that can be made by the scientists on the development of the country.

“We do not doubt that you agree that we need an educated workforce in all aspects of life, but more so in the sciences. This in our view will attract and retain crucial skills that are required by the country at this material time.”

Bitarakwate said that teachers, like other employees of the Government, have rights and freedoms enjoyed under the Constitution and relevant laws, including the right to withdraw labor, “the current industrial action by the members of UNATU is illegal.

It is done in breach of the principles and spirit of the law and particularly in sections 7(2) (a) and (b); and sections (8)(1) and (3) and the Public Service Negotiating, Consultative, and Disputes Resettlement Machinery Act, 2008 and the Recognition Agreement signed under this Act.

“Neither has UNATU given the notice to strike nor had the dispute settlement machinery been exhausted”. Bitarakwate said UNATU’s claims that the strike had been on since 2019 and hence there was no need for a new notice were both “fallacious and not legally tenable”.

“Secondly, we have noted with concern that you and your members have decided to close the schools. We wish to advise you that no teacher, whether on strike or not, has the legal right or justification to close a public school without the concurrence of the Government of Uganda,” she said.

Bitarakwate told UNATU that while the Government was committed to working with all parties towards achieving better salaries for all public servants, “your demands for a salary enhancement cannot be addressed in the financial year 2022/23”.

UNATU maintains strike In response, Filbert Baguma, the UNATU general secretary, said they were determined to pursue their course and would not be intimidated.

“We presented our issues to Government and we expect them to give us satisfactory feedback. Instead of satisfactory feedback, they are now coming up with intimidation. We are not ready to be intimidated because what we did was legally protected. We have followed the law to the dot. We have all the documents. The author of that letter (Bitarakwate) was part of the negotiations all through. She even signed the collective bargaining agreement and for her to wake up today and say it is illegal and that the Government doesn’t have money in 2022/23, is uncalled for,” Baguma said.

Salary disparity

In the last budget speech read last week, the finance minister announced that sh900b had been earmarked for the enhancement of salaries for scientists, including science teachers.

However, UNATU has opposed the selective enhancement of salaries for science teachers, insisting that this contradicted their CBA with the Government.

Effective July 1, all non-medical science graduates, including science teachers, will earn sh4m and medical graduates sh5m.

Diploma holder science teachers will earn sh3m per month. In comparison, graduate arts teachers earn sh960,000-sh1.3m depending on experience. Diploma arts teachers are paid sh745,000- sh784,000.