Africa-Press – Malawi. The Secondary School Teachers Union (SESTU) has raised the alarm over what it calls systematic exclusion from crucial government negotiations on salaries and conditions of service—warning that secondary school teachers are being sidelined in decisions that directly affect their livelihoods.
SESTU General Secretary, Frank Druwen Moyo, told Nyasa Times that the current representation framework is flawed and fails to capture the specific concerns of secondary school educators.
“The recent controversy surrounding the Amaryllis Hotel deal underscores the dangers of limited representation in critical decision-making spaces,” said Moyo.
“While we acknowledge the roles of the Teachers Union of Malawi (TUM) and the Civil Servants Trade Union (CSTU), these bodies do not adequately represent the unique interests of secondary school teachers.”
He said SESTU has been left in the dark, with little to no consultation or updates on key deliberations, including the highly anticipated 2026/2027 salary adjustments.
“We are not being consulted. We are not being updated. Yet decisions are being made that directly impact us,” he said.
Moyo argued that the current arrangement runs contrary to both the Labour Relations Act of 1996 and the Constitution, which guarantee freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining.
“No law places one union above another in representing workers,” he stressed. “Equally, the employer—in this case the Malawi Government—does not have the authority to handpick which unions to engage while excluding others.”
SESTU has since formally written the Ministry of Labour, demanding immediate redress and inclusion in ongoing negotiations.
The union’s stance sets the stage for a potential confrontation, as pressure mounts on government to open up the negotiation table—or risk deepening discontent within the education sector.
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