Support programmes staff to strike indefinitely over unpaid wages

Workers in the support programmes of the education ministry will begin an indefinite strike on Monday, after unions cited many colleagues have gone five months without pay. Trade unions SEK and PEO said the ministry has still not fully implemented legislation passed by the House on April 21 which regulates employment in specific programmes. According to the unions, the law sets out staffing procedures, but these are not applied to every programme, which has left a number of workers without a job. They also claim that posts meant for fixed-term staff are being filled by employees already on the permanent roll, who work overtime to cover them. The unions further accused the government of repeatedly postponing a political decision on paying employees whose contracts have not been terminated. They said the delay has left these workers with no income and no right to unemployment benefit. “Workers remain unpaid for five months,” the unions said, describing the situation as the result of “continuous postponements” by the government. The strike marks an escalation of measures the workers have taken over the unresolved labour issues, with a protest march planned for next Thursday, starting at the finance ministry and heading towards the presidential palace. The unions have called on workers to turn out in large numbers for both the strike and the march, and have insisted action would continue until “substantive solutions” are provided to the problems they have raised.