Wage Adjustment Demands Grow Louder With Teachers, Health Workers Leading Charge

Health professionals threaten general strike if terms unmet by May 11

The government is under growing pressure to adjust wages for civil servants, with education and health professionals at the forefront of demands for higher pay in the face of ballooning living expenses.

During a nine-month performance review of the Ministry of Education on Monday, a statement from an opposition MP drew rare consensus from lawmakers, who recognized the urgent need to improve the earnings and livelihoods of Ethiopian teachers.

“Teachers in Ethiopia are struggling to cover expenses for their basic needs due to their meager incomes,” Desalegn Chane (PhD), an MP representing the National Movement of Amhara (NaMA) party, said following a presentation by Berhanu Nega (Prof.), minister of Education.

The comment drew nods of approval from the 547-seat Parliament dominated by the ruling Prosperity Party.

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The Minister acknowledged the wage issues and proposed a spate of plans to ameliorate the troubles facing educators, including the establishment of a teachers’ bank, which he said would be operational around this time next year.

“The bank will be instrumental in helping teachers access financing for housing,” said Berhanu.

He did not provide any details as to what its ownership structure or operational modalities would be.

His presentation included a sobering overview of the extent to which education has been disrupted by both manmade and natural disasters.

No less than 7.2 million students are unable to attend classes across the country as more than 5,300 schools have sustained heavy damage or been completely destroyed by armed conflict or natural disasters, according to the Minister.

He also announced plans to embark on a Student Service program that would compel university students to carry out a year of unpaid public service before moving into their fourth year of education, which in many cases, with the exception of fields such as Medicine, is the year of graduation.

The program is reminiscent of the Marxist Derg regime’s Edget Behbret campaign in the late 70s and early 80s, which saw hundreds of thousands of high school and tertiary-level students deployed to rural Ethiopia for community service.

“It was a hugely popular campaign then and it was conducted in quite a different social, political and economic milieu,” a veteran high school teacher, now a pensioner, told The Reporterspeaking anonymously. “I am not sure what they are planning to do this time around and how they would go about it in a country divided along ethnic lines. I hope they do it in a manner that would be capable of mending the walls.”

In Ethiopia, salaries, particularly for public sector employees, have not been adequately adjusted to match the rising cost of living, struggling to keep pace with inflation. While some salary adjustments have been made, they are often seen as insufficient and do not fully address the impact of high inflation. The lack of adequate salary increases has a significant impact on living standards.

Some records put the unofficial minimum wage at 3,000 birr a month (approximately USD 22 at current exchange rates), far from enough to cover even the most basic needs for a family.

The low wages have been the subject of a determined social media campaign from health professionals across the country over the past month. They threaten to go on a general strike if their demands for better pay are not met within a month.

The campaign on platforms such as Facebook features posts with a common theme: a photo of the campaigner clad in white gown, holding a placard highlighting their professional experience and struggles with the cost of living and their low wages.

Some use lit candles as metaphors to illustrate how medical professionals are being robbed of their opportunities while helping others to live better lives.

The Ethiopian Health Professionals Movement recently submitted a statement outlining a dozen demands to a number of institutions, including the Ministry of Health, the Office of the Prime Minister, the Civil Service Commission, the Labor Ministry, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, and the US Embassy in Ethiopia, among others.

The Reporter has obtained a copy of the statement.

It gives officials at the Health Ministry until May 11 to respond to the demands, including a call for appropriate wage increases, or face “measures that we deem would be within lawful bounds”. Insiders say the threat could include a nationwide general strike.

The professionals behind the movement want to see the Ministry adopt the East African standard of a salary floor of USD 1,000 and limit working hours to 45 hours a week, with guarantees for overtime pay. They have called on the Ministry to provide benefits such as affordable housing privileges, and institute a system of merit for promotions to leadership positions.

Health professionals also want to see the government set up international proficiency examination and accreditation centers such as USMLE Exam Center, NCLEX Exam Center, PLAB, DHA and AMC “in line with promises made to us years ago”.

Six years ago, health professionals met with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed as part of a series of consultations with the Ethiopian workforce. At the time, the health professionals expressed their demands and concerns, particularly those related to salary increments and the introduction of benefits.

However, the PM glossed over the pressure, pointing to the country’s financial issues as reason to shelve the demands.

The government has yet to respond to the growing pressure.