Unions to embark on “Go-slow” Strike

Rejecting a 5% increase in salary, trade unions are calling on civil servants to come to work only when they can until the government gives them a higher raise.

Union leader Jean-Mark Bikoko said 5% violated civil service labour laws and was grossly insufficient to help the state’s employees cope with the recent increase in fuel and taxi costs.

Bikoko was not specific about the size of raise in their demand but he claimed Cameroon had the means to give civil servants more than it has, citing high costs of running the government that could be trimmed.

“The budget of the presidency is CFA52 billion, that is, CFA4 billion per month,” he said, claiming that the secretary-general at the PM’s office spends CFA 2 million of fuel a day, while each of Cameroon’s 60-something ministers gets between 15 and 30 million every quarter.

“If they state can afford this ( kind of luxurious living)it means it has the means to do more for civil servants,” Bikoko said, who with other union leaders has called for what they termed a “go-slow” strike.

Cameroon has around 250,000 civil servants, making the state the biggest employer ahead of the Cameroon Development Corp (CDC). Biko said they should not bother to feel obliged to give their all unless the state yielded to demands for a higher raise.

Cameroon eliminated up to 35% of fuel subsidies earlier this month leading to a 14-15% increase in the prices of petrol and diesel. Cooking gas also became more expensive. Cameroon last adjusted fuel prices in early 2008.

To calm taxi drivers who were threatening to go on strike, authorities also increased taxi fares across the country but have been struggling to hold the prices of food and other basic goods and services down.

The minister of finance Alamine Ousmane Mey said the removal of fuel subsidies will free money to invest in other sectors. The decision was in part a recommendation of international donors, who claimed subsidies served only the rich.

Cameroon continues to subsidize numerous products and service, including imported food and beer. To help citizens deal with the rise in fuel taxes, the government said it had halved several micro-business taxes.

But there are still fears that the rising cost of living could lead to social unrest. In 2008, at least 100 people were killed during riots to protest hardship sparked by a sudden rise in fuel prices.