OPINION: Stopping Teachers' Strikes Permanently in Uganda

By Byamugisha Ambrose Muhoozi.

Like any other striking workers, Uganda teachers tend to believe they are underpaid and overworked besides increasing the salary of Science Teachers. And like most employers today, Uganda government is facing tough economic times than before and according to Prime Minister, the Government can’t afford to be generous with its workers.

It’s a classic labour relations standoff that stems from attitudes deeply imbedded in human nature and driving the almost universal belief that one’s work is not valued properly in Uganda.

In market economies this belief is tamed by the invisible hand of competition. Employers who have unfilled vacancies pay more. If they are swamped by job applicants, they pay less. In the end, workers find jobs with the highest pay they can get and employers can afford to pay.

The market solution to the determination of teachers   pay was damaged when government of Uganda passed legislation allowing teachers and other workers to form unions and permitting them to strike without having to pay for damages. Do you know the damage they have caused for these few years refusing to pay? 

However, in the private sector, the ability of unions to extract benefits for their members through strikes is limited by market forces of demand and supply.  It is simple, Mathematics, if union demands are excessive, employers goes bankrupt and the workers lose their jobs. 

However, in Uganda public sector, unions face no such limits.  Politicians typically put up some resistance to union demands, but in the end give in and raise taxes to pay for the increased costs. Small tax increases do less electoral damage than do public sector strikes. 

As a result of this game, public sector union members will  enjoy compensation levels much above those for comparable private sector work and this creates more damage on Country income gaps ( The Rich and the poor). But this game should now be over. Deficits are unsustainable in Uganda, debt has become excessive to our country, and of course the public opposes higher taxes. NRM Politicians and other Political parties in Parliament of Uganda should be looking for ways to deal with this new reality.

In my opinion, I advise the Government of Uganda to freeze the salaries of all public sector employees or Teachers who are on strike for six months or less depending on the reaction and situation. This can be accepted by all public sector unions, except those of the teachers that are only on strike. 

Give people the power to decide what they should be paid; they will always try to use this power to get what they want for example that’s what has been happening to our Parliamentarians. No shame at all

The only permanent solution to this problem in Uganda therefore is to deprive teachers of the right to strike. The same government that granted this right can also withdraw it immediately.  Such View  is consistent with the widely held view that anyone who does not want to work for an organization that is prohibited from striking is free to work for one where the right exists in the country or outside or elsewhere he or she feels comfortable . 

This Opinion if followed will restore the role of market forces in this country.  The government as the employer will rationally set wages so that there are neither unfilled vacancies nor teachers looking for work. School curricula and working conditions for teachers will be set in response to demands from parents and the political pressures they generate with input from teachers.

This will prevent future  strikes but also increase the effectiveness of the educational system in Uganda , the government should change the current system further by giving all parents vouchers that they spend on  private schools, which through competition are induced to provide the type and quality of education parents believe their children need in this country .

Under this View, Uganda government may continue to meet their commitment to provide universal access to education both in Primary and Secondary and at all levels.  The big difference is that parents indirectly hire teachers that meet their standards, replacing the current system which sees teachers hired directly by government agencies that are much less sensitive to their children’s needs than are parents in Uganda . 

The use of vouchers in private schools will end some current practices that make contributions of questionable value to teaching effectiveness as determined by parents.  Such practices involve time for preparation, further education and other conditions negotiated by the Teachers union.  Merit will take the place of seniority in setting the pay of individual teachers at all levels like Head teachers, Inspectors and Supervisors of schools.

The special needs of some students can readily be accommodated under the voucher system by providing them with vouchers that compensate schools for the extra cost they need to incur.

There is no time like now for at least a debate, if not action, on the possible prohibition of strikes by teachers union and the universal use of vouchers. Both public and Parents are tired of strikes in Uganda , the deficits and debt caused by excessively generous wage package in the past and never-ending demands for better and costly working conditions. The public is looking for political leadership to deal with these problems, not just the band-aid solutions offered by the type of legislation in Uganda today.

The Author is the Managing Director of Ambrosoli Consult Uganda Limited , Plot 40 Kampala Road

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