This time the walkout will see about 93, 000, or 98 percent of the government workforce, downing their tools. Not only will the planned 10-day industrial action be huge it will also have disastrous consequences. Here is the picture: Hospitals will look like scenes from the war zone with no one attending to the sick and dying; schools will be abandoned; airports are likely to close; crossing at the borders will become virtually impossible; government revenue offices will close and private businesses will suffer. Indeed, a range of key services on which the public depends will be badly disrupted. Following the 1991 strike, then president Sir Ketumile Masire announced that the country went into recession as a result. And that was caused by a small number of manual workers. The sheer number of people who will go on strike this time around is scary. It is even more worrisome when we consider the likely economic harm to the country, given that we are still grappling with the effects of the global economic downturn. The last thing that Botswana needs is a nationwide strike. Too much is at stake and government and unionists must meet in the best interest of the nation to prevent the strike. It is not too late. Government has proposed a two percent conditional increase, which the unions say is an insult considering that they want a 16 percent increase. It is never too late to make it right. We firmly believe that should the government get back to the unions with a more 'honest' approach - something that the unions will not see as an insult, and which has reasonable time frames, at the very least the action would lead to a postponement of the industrial action to allow talks to take place. Union leaders are saying that once the strike starts it will be difficult for them to stop it. And the closer we get to the May 18 deadline the more difficult it will be to avert the strike. The forlorn chimes of time are about to ring out, spelling the misery of our people. The click-clack of the timepiece's hands should remind the stakeholders that there is urgent need for real engagement between the two sides. The workers are clearly very angry and nothing except a decent salary raise will appease them. While we appreciate government's predicament, we must warn that there would be little value in going into any talks unless the Government has something to offer the worker. We also understand the anger among public sector workers - which anger has led to the decision to go on a nationwide strike. The workers are complaining that their purchasing power has been eroded. They are saying that the current salaries that government last raised in 2007 have shrunk because food prices, tax and other costs have gone up while their salaries have remained unchanged. From the look of things, only government can avert the strike and we urge DPSM to speedily do so.
Today's thought
