BDP endorses teaching as essential service
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Thursday July 7, 2016 18:00
“This very important bill is currently being debated in Parliament. It is a bill covering about 53 clauses covering a wide variety of subjects, which are meant to reform our labour environment,” BDP secretary general Botsalo Ntuane said on Tuesday when addressing journalists at Tsholetsa House.
“The BDP supports the bill in its entirety including classification of the teaching cadre as an essential service. We look forward to its smooth passage and enactment of the necessary changes. This is an issue that the BDP caucus has discussed and which is informed by a resolution of the BDP national council for the teaching cadre to be removed from the public service act,” he added. Ntuane said teachers cannot work from 7.30am to 4.30pm like other civil servants. “Students results will keep on dropping if teachers are going to work like that. We trust this too will come to fruition soon,” he said. However the Botswana Federation of Public Sector Unions (BOFEPUSU) secretary general Tobokani Rari said the decision taken by the BDP caucus is ill informed.
“If it is well informed then we cannot say it is unfortunate for it to have taken that stand. Now it is for the workers to punish the BDP.
This means that the BDP wants to destroy the bargaining power for workers. Again we ask the minister of labour Edwin Batshu to be honourable enough and tell people the truth. BOFEPUSU was not consulted and that is why this case is before court,” Rari said.
He said if BOFEPUSU was consulted, why would they go to court to challenge government on failure to consult unions on the Trade Dispute Act Amendment Bill.
Rari said they have written to the BDP several times so that they can address its MPs about this bill but they have never received a response nor have they been accorded that chance. “I think the media should also remember that we wrote to the Speaker of the National Assembly to be given a slot to address MPs on this issue but they replied promising that they would do so till now,” he said.