The Strike

You may recall a few weeks ago I mentioned that government workers were threatening to strike. Well, we are presently in week three of the strike and tensions are mounting. The primary point of contention is that the government workers have not received raises in over 3 years so they demanded an immediate 16% raise. That demand has been negotiated down to something like 13%, but is still not within the range that the government is willing to consent to… so the strike goes on.

While the strike has not affected the availability of food and other necessities, it is impacting many important aspects of everyday life. Students and parents are upset about lost days of instruction and the reality that students will be ill prepared for their upcoming exams. Patients in the hospitals are reportedly suffering due to inadequate staffing and much of the work that depends on government personnel seems to have screeched to a halt—including getting responses from the Ministries related to the work I am involved with.

All of this is very inconvenient and, from as far as I can tell, the strikers don’t seem to be backing down. The office I often sit in during the day has a window overlooking the field where many of the strikers gather. They have loud set of speakers and routinely spend the whole day broadcasting music and speeches. One recent speech was primarily in Setswana, but the speaker was obviously mimicking Dr. ML King’s, “I Have a Dream” speech—I recognized the cadence and the key words, “I have a dream, that one day…”

It has been very interesting to listen to peoples’ opinions about the strike— and Batswana are very happy to share their opinions, even if you don’t ask to hear them. Most of my older colleagues are very disturbed by the strike. It is very un-like Batswana to behave this way, they say. Some of the younger generation is somewhat sympathetic- admitting that government workers are not well paid and while the cost of living continues to rise, their salaries have not. I’m not informed enough to takes sides, but it seems to me there are a lot of people around the world who have not seen raises in several years.

All of this is of heightened interest to me in light of one of the books I read during my reading spree this year: Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged,” also known as “The Strike.” The basic plot of this complex novel is that, instead of what we commonly see, the worker-bee, blue-collar employees going on strike, the innovative, movers and shakers do. This uncommon dynamic leaves the world in a perilous decline. I am no political scientist, but I can see some of the weaknesses of Botswana’s developing system being illuminated by the current strike. Hopefully it will be an opportunity for reflection and progress… only time will tell.