Teacher and Educational Workers Union (TEWU) declared an indefinite strike a few days ago, demanding that the disparities in the salaries of junior and senior staff of public universities be addressed. Yesterday, leaders of the TEWU walked out of a meeting with the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission furious, as another attempt to address their salary concerns broke down. Most public universities have either reopened or scheduled to reopen later this month. Kuulpeeps tries to analyze what the strike means to these students.
TEWU members basically handle the teaching and learning equipment on various campuses. Their strike puts the teaching and learning process in jeopardy; making available markers and chalks, fixing projectors etc. The last time they were on strike, lecturers were mostly absent for their lectures. Students will therefore be expected to learn on their own to make up for the lectures which will not be coming on.
Porters are members of TEWU, which means they won’t be at post during the strike. The day to day activities of halls and hostels will become very difficult for students. Hall residents will have to handle their keys and hall issues themselves. This is in no way good for the security and day to day running of halls and hostels.
Last thing we will look at is the general security of students on campus. With the TEWU strike action, security personnels who are part of the association will not be present on campus. This poses a threat to students and people who work on campus.
With all these concerns, we hope the FWSC and TEWU leaders come to an understanding so that members will return to their post as soon as possible to ensure the smooth running of activities on campus.
