Forced Sympathy Strike

Hello, friends. I am writing you at around 9:40 a.m. on a day that I should be at work. I am not, however, at work. Many of you may be unaware of the current political situation in South Africa, so I figured I'd update you a bit. We're currently experiencing a public service workers strike and it is HUGE. Like most strikes, this one is to lobby the government for a wage increase, which COSATU (the Congress of South African Trade Unions which comprises most unions in the country) suggests should be at least 10% but preferably 12%. If you're interested in getting the professional run-down, here's the BBC article for you. Now this might seem huge to those of you in the States because a 12% wage hike for most US citizens would be quite the deal; however, there has been much inflation and few standard of living raises for most public workers, so the raise really is necessary. The problem is, when public workers include teachers, doctors, police officers, nurses, etc., etc., there is just no way to come up with that many 12%s! Especially after government officials gave themselves a 50% pay raise last year. This leads many South Africans to believe that the government is not playing fair. Seems to me, they're probably right. Today, in addition to the public workers strike, there is a sympathy strike of all COSATU trade union members. COSATU estimates that approximately 2 million people (out of SA's approx. 40 mil.) will not go to work today, bringing the country to a standstill.

The most frustrating part of it all is that many essential services workers are striking. Technically, doctors, nurses, and ambulance drivers are not allowed to strike. On monday, hundreds of dismissal letters were sent out by the public minister, but to no avail. In schools, it is exam time, meaning that students will have to re-take exams during their winter break. It is all very strange to me since these are professionals who are not allowed to strike in the States. I can certainly understand that they need raises, and moreso that they deserve them. I cannot, however, understand that it fits in the Hippocratic Oath to remove yourself from public duty for an extended period of time, leaving the country's sick to get sicker. Also, as an educator, I cannot understand how teachers will leave students without an education in the name of money. It is all a very thin tightrope to walk. My human rights professor was really excited that I am here to see all of this. He says that even when it's getting a little out of hand, at least South Africans will stand up for their rights and the rights of others, which is much more than Americans typically do. Often times, he's correct.

But why, do you ask, am I not at work? I work at a private school, so few of our teachers if any are unionised, and I am certainly not. It is an unfortunate part of South African civil disobedience, however, to use intimidation tactics with those who continue to work. Again, this should not affect non-union members, and it generally doesn't; however, it does affect school children still going to school. Apparently, it is perceived that the families of children who go to school during the strike are somehow collaborators with the government. So, children are often targeted as objects of this intimidation. We've had reports of people throwing things at student kombis (bus taxis which bring our students to school), searches of student belongings while on the kombi, children having nasty things said to them on the way to school, etc. We had already asked that students not wear their uniforms, identifying them as children on their way to school, but this has just been too much. So, with fear of possible difficulty today, we called off school.

Be thinking of us today while you're going to work. COSATU will likely not get their 10%, but after more than 2 weeks of striking, it doesn't look like they're giving up any time soon.

In other news, I will post pictures as soon as I can. Unfortunately, my laptop is very old and is trying to convince me that it has no memory space left (I know this not to be true, but it's a tricky and tired old laptop). So, I have a friend coming to look at it and once it's fixed or I buy more memory, I will get back to you, promise!

My love to you all. A belated Happy Birthday to my dear friend Skye. I shouldn't go out of the country on someone's birthday, but if I'm going to, I should really be near a computer, don't you think? Shame on me. I love you and hope it was just as wonderful as you deserve. To the rest of you, I would always love to hear from you. Let me know how your summer is and I'll let you know how my winter is!