Most of Cote d'Ivoire's government employees and workers have largely remained home as a two-day general strike called by labor unions to protest against the high cost of living entered its first day, according to eyewitnesses.
Nevertheless, the strike, which is coming shortly after the government moved to increase fuel prices, did not affect some sections of the economy, including private businesses and government parastatals, which remained open as usual throughout Thursday.
In Abidjan, the country's economic capital, many workers preferred to stay at home and an unusual calm prevailed at the administrative district, a set of five twenty-floor buildings, which houses the majority of cabinet ministers and public services.
The usual incessant movement of lifts between the first and the last floors of the building was largely non-existent. The crowd that normally mills around the lift's was no where to be seen, giving the whole place the semblance of a ghost building.
The situation was witnessed at the International Trade Center (CCIA) and the Bloc ministerial buildings, according to the local media and several eyewitness accounts.
The several workers, who showed up for the day, were mostly departmental heads "dropping in to deal with a few issues" in the absence of their juniors. Others had merely come "to review the situation before heading back home."
"We are in agreement with the grievances, but the procedure that has been taken is flawed and therefore I am obliged to come to work. If there is something to be done, I'll handle it. Otherwise, I will go back home because of transport problems," said an executive assistant at the public service and employment ministry.
In a statement to media houses, Public Service Minister Hubert Oulaye described the strike by the General Union of Workers of Cote d'Ivoire (UGTCI) as "illegal," arguing that the central trade union organization had not complied with the six-day notice prescribed by law for strikes.
On Tuesday, the UGTCI, which is the umbrella labor union organization in the country, had lodged a "notice of warning for a48-hour general strike from Thursday" to protest against rising fuel prices, which it said will "induce a new great surge in prices of food commodities."
As compensation for the increased fuel prices, the central labor union has called on the government to "disburse salary arrears and delayed promotions, readjust private sector wages and also remove taxation on pensions."
For nearly 20 years, the promotion of government workers, which is often accompanied by higher wages, has been suspended as the state aggressively seeks ways to save expenditure.
By mid-day Thursday, almost all officials had deserted their offices and only a few guards and other small-scale traders were still milling around entrances to buildings in the downtown Abidjan.
However, private businesses remained open and banking and financial institutions were also open throughout the whole day. But some government parastatals, whose workers are not partaking in the current strike, also had to close down as employees decided to stay away.
"We harbored fears that the strikers would attack our buses but the situation is calm and we are at work," Magloire Kouassi, deputy director of communications at the state-run transport company Sotra, told Xinhua.
The company's buses have been serving different neighborhoods in the economic capital since taxis and inter-communal transport operators announced a work stoppage early this week.
"There are many workers missing today, but minimum service is being provided," said Bodjean Magloire, a nurse at the Abidjan-based Centre Hospitalier Universitaire (CHU).
The workers are beginning their strike even as transport operators continued with their work stoppage on Thursday, despite a meeting with President Laurent Gbagbo and a call for the resumption of work.
The stoppage, which has almost brought Abidjan to its knees due to a crashing lack of transport, was initially called for two days starting Monday to protest against the government's decision to increase fuel prices by between 30 percent and 44 percent on July 7.
Source:Xinhua
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