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afrol News, 24 July - The tiny island republic of São Tomé and Príncipe is paralysed by a civil servants' strike that is entering its third day. Almost all public offices are closed down, however leaving the health and education sectors unaffected. The strikers demand an increase of the national minimum wage. The national minimum wage is set at 22,000 escudos (approximately US$ 185); an amount the strikers claim is not sufficient regarding the relatively high price level on the archipelago. The Union of Civil Servants therefore called out almost all their members to strike on 21 July. The strike has not been well received by the government. While Justice Minister Alda Melo yesterday underlined the constitutional rights of workers to organise strikes, she however held that this strike was illegal. Firstly, timely notice had not been given; secondly, the trade union had forced reluctant workers of the meteorological service and the state radio to lay down their work; and finally, union leader Aurélio Silva had only "personal motives" to call for a strike, the Minister said, according to the local daily 'Tela Nón'. Minister Melo said Mr Silva had already received US$ 30,000 from the government and that the civil servants strike he was organising was only to "blackmail" the government to pay him another US$ 30,000. The strike had nothing to do with minimum wages, she held. The government was however negotiating with the trade union, government sources informed today. A government source was quoted as being optimistic to find a solution to the labour conflict "even today," according to the Portuguese radio 'RDP África'. Today, the strikers are holding a massive demonstration at Independence Square in central São Tomé. Union leader Silva is foreseen to meet with President Fradique de Menezes in the presidential palace after the demonstrations. A negotiated solution to the strike could then be within reach. In 1998 and 2000, the country's 3,750 civil servants embarked on similar strikes to press for higher pay. In 1997, the government had agreed to increase civil servants' salaries by 200-300 percent, promising to pay the new salaries retroactively for the first six months of that year, but it subsequently failed to accomplish, provoking the 1998 strike.
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