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articleleftcol

Polytechnic lecturers end strike, accept a 25 percent stepped salary increment

17 September 2012 Times

Lecturers at Malawi Polytechnic have accepted a 25 percent salary increment offer and have since called off their strike, a union official said yesterday.

General Secretary of Polytechnic Academic Staff Committee on Welfare (Pascow) Gift Khangamwa said yesterday the lecturers agreed on Thursday last week to resume teaching today after looking at the bigger picture of the implication of their continued boycott of work.

"We have resolved to resume teaching after agreeing on certain terms with the council. In that meeting, all lecturers were in attendance and we looked at a bigger picture and saw it wise to resume teaching," Khangamwa said.

He said apart from accepting the 25 percent salary increment, there were also other conditions that the academic staff agreed with the university council.

"All along, the trend has been that for us to get a salary increment, we have to take an industrial action. This time we have agreed with the council and have found a long time panacea to the trend," said the lecturers' spokesperson.

Polytechnic Students' Union President Wakisa Simukonda yesterday confirmed in an interview they have received communication from the administration on the development.

The Polytechnic strike is reported to have wasted over K90 million tax payers' money last month as students received their upkeep allowances although there was no learning at the institution.

The lecturers downed there tools last month, demanding a 113 percent salary hike.

They were however, offered 25 percent which they rejected last week though their Chancellor College counterparts accepted it.

University of Malawi's support staff, who had also gone on strike demanding a 75 percent salary increment, also accepted the 25 percent salary hike and resumed their work.