24 Jul 2013

Public sector backs striking Solomons teachers

6:59 am on 24 July 2013

A full-scale public sector strike in Solomon Islands is on the cards as a nationwide strike by teachers over unpaid wages continues.

Teachers across the country have been striking for the past week and a half, the third time since the start of the year, and are now threatening a mass resignation if the government carries out its threat to cut salaries on Thursday.

The Solomon Islands National Teachers Association or SINTA says resigning en masse is a last resort but teachers are resolved to continue industrial action until the government pays outstanding wage commitments.

The industrial relations officer Samson Faisi says a meeting on Wednesday with the council of trade unions will determine whether or not public sector employees such as doctors and nurses join the strike.

"If SINU also comes in - Solomon Islands National Union of Workers - they also would like to be involved in this issue, and you can say that areas like ports, dock workers as well as aviation, if somehow they come onto the scene with SINTA, it will put additional pressure on this government."

The Solomon Islands National Teachers Association's Samson Faisi.