In order to clean up the accounts and sanitise state revenues, the Ivorian government is suspending the pay of 1,800 workers absent from the workplace.
Two communications involving the suspension of pay were adopted on Wednesday, October 30, 2024, in the Council of Ministers.
The first relates to the electronic presence control operation of civil servants and state agents, for the year 2023.
The operation, which covered a target population of 251,426 civil servants and state employees, aimed to update the database of civil servants and state agents, in terms of occupation of workstation, assignment and geographical location.
The results of the operation attest to the presence of 249,549 functionaries at their posts. On the other hand, 1,877 functionaries were found to be absent or not checked despite the various catch-up stages, including
the litigation phase opened to deal with the various contentious situations observed.
These agents were subject to immediate measures, including the suspension of pay which was notified to them by means of a press release. The civil servants and state agents concerned may, however, refer the matter to the Disciplinary Council for analysis and possible restoration of their situation.
The second communication adopted by the Council of Ministers relates to the report of the strike observed by certain unions in the health and education-training sectors from October 15 to 17, 2024, across the country.
According to government spokesperson Amadou Coulibaly, it is an “illegal” strike. A call for a strike was launched and maintained despite the negotiations opened by the government through the minister responsible for the civil service.
“Given the illegal nature of this strike movement, and in application of the law (…) The main leaders, 26 in number, saw their salaries suspended from this month of October 2024 and the other participants suffered a salary deduction equivalent to the three days of strike,” he said.
Several trade union organisations, umbrella bodies and federations of the Ministry of National Education and Literacy, grouped within the Intersyndicale du MENA (IS-MENA) had filed a strike notice with the supervisory authority on September 23, 2024.
This strike notice concerned a 72-hour work stoppage throughout the national territory from Tuesday, October 15, 2024 at 7:30 a.m. (GMT, local time) until Thursday, October 17, 2024 at 6:00 p.m., in order to demand a satisfactory response to their demands.
The trade unions are primarily demanding the granting of an incentive bonus to staff in the education-training sector, the establishment of a sector relating to school administration with the creation of new jobs and a career profile.
They are also demanding the revaluation of allowances linked to large-scale exams and their payment no later than two weeks after the closure of the examination secretariats, and the promotion of assistant teachers.
On Tuesday, October 29, 2024, the Minister of National Education and Literacy, Mariatou Koné, submitted a report of the demands of the education unions to the Minister of State, Minister of the Civil Service, Anne Ouloto, in the presence of union leaders.
The document includes the major demands of the national education unions, with a focus on the incentive bonus, as well as recommendations for achieving the objectives.
AP/Sf/fss/as/APA
