strike

Vanuatu

teachers strike

t three-week strike by teachers in Vanuatu ended on June 15.

Tie Vanuatu Teachers Union called off the strike after caching an agreement with the government on working onditions.

The breakthrough came just hours before the Vanuatu civil ?rvice threatened a national stopwork if the strike was not cttled. Both sides have formalised a deal on the teachers’ claim )r a 25-per-cent pay rise and a housing allowance.

But union leader Obed Masing said questions remained on ow much extra teachers w ould receive. If they were not happy ley would take further action.

Prime Minister Maxime Carlot Korman went on state radio ) appeal to public servants to abandon their plans for a ational strike. Earlier, Vanuatu’s President, Fred Timakata, ad urged Korman’s government to take immediate steps to the teachers strike.

The Vanuatu government had suspended more than 800 rimary school teachers after they went on strike on May 24. he government had rejected the demand for a pay increase, tying it was not budgeted for and not possible under the resent economic situation.

A cabinet statement had said the government would not derate what it termed teachers union’s disturbances in the iucation of the children. It claimed the strike was politically otivated and threatened disciplinary action if the teachers did 3t return to work.