By Manas James Okony
A group of 38 school teachers employed in Upper Nile State’s Melut County has filed a lawsuit in a Juba High Court against a county parastatal, seeking redress over alleged nonpayment of USD 200,000 in salaries and benefits.
In June, several teachers staged a protest in Melut to demand better remuneration, having worked without payment or renewal of their employment contracts since February.
According to the teachers, their industrial action resulted in the dismissal of some colleagues without pay and threats of further punitive measures against any dissenting voices.
Dau Akoi Thon, a lawyer representing the dissatisfied teachers, stated yesterday that his clients sought judicial help after the Melut Community Development Committee (CDC) showed reluctance to intervene.
He emphasized that litigation was their only option after attempting to address their grievances with the county education department, the CDC, and other relevant government institutions, all without success.
“These 38 teachers were recruited by Melut authorities under a contract that guaranteed them monthly pay, only to be dismissed illegally later on.
They have repeatedly sought redress through the labour and education ministries but to no avail. Consequently, the matter is now before the court, and yesterday we filed a case against the Melut CDC in the High Court in Juba,” advocate Dau explained.
He continued, “the court process is now underway. We want the court to compel these parties to pay the illegally dismissed teachers over USD 200,000 in salary arrears and social insurance benefits. My clients legally signed contracts, but the other party chose not to provide them with copies; they decided to keep them. According to the Labour Act, these teachers should be paid and not treated unfairly.”
Meanwhile, Daniel Juma Rehan, one of the complainants, stated they will remain resolute until their grievances are addressed.
“We signed contracts, but our copies were never returned to us. Up until February, we were receiving payments. After our contracts expired in February, we were told to continue working with the promise of new contracts and pay, but instead, we were dismissed when we protested in June. Now we are demanding our rights through the court,” he stated.
For his part, Samuel Ayuel, the Chairperson of the Melut County CDC, acknowledged awareness of the lawsuit and expressed a desire to engage in dialogue with the disgruntled teachers.
“We have been in discussions with them. Their main thing we owe them is the payment of February and some incentives from October 2022. Some were dismissed for misconduct. We are willing to engage in dialogue because they have served our community, and we should not be in conflict. However, they have refused to engage with us and are insisting on going to court,” he said.