Unions be gone!

IT was the second semester of the 2005 academic year at the University of Karachi. The semester examination was well under way. In the Department of Geology, however, the chaos prevailed during the exam when a student who was refused admission into the examination room, came with his gang and beat up a teacher.

This incident received widespread condemnation from both the students as well as the teaching staff all over the city. But it was only when the Karachi University Teachers’ Society (Kuts) sprang into action and demanded immediate disciplinary action that the student involved in this incident was rusticated.

This incident is one out of thousands where one appreciates the existence of unions and associations that are formed by teachers in educational institutes. In many cases, these unions are the sole respite of the teaching staff, a platform which is exclusively theirs, from which they can stand up on certain issues and take coordinated action. Simply put, a union gives teachers representation in any educational institute.

Unfortunately, it is these very unions that are now under attack thanks to the government of Sindh. On July 21, 2006, a notification issued by the Sindh education department effectively banned all forms of unions formed by its employees. These employees, unfortunately, include teachers as well, which means that unions for teachers of government-run educational institutes along with those which come under the district governments are now illegal (Dawn, July 22, 2006)

In the aftermath of this ban, many different associations formed by teachers have issued statements condemning this unjust clampdown. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), Pasban, All-Pakistan Professors and Lecturers’ Association and the Sindh Professors and Lecturers Association (SPLA) are some of the bodies which have termed this ban as unjust and a means of further weakening the position of teachers who are already working in deplorable conditions.

In the wake of such extreme action, one is forced to ask the obvious: what have the unions done to merit such severe laws against them? In the ‘80s, it was the student unions which bore the brunt of oppressive educational policies when they faced a complete ban. Now, it seems, the noose has tightened and teachers’ unions have come under attack.

In this regard, the notification issued by the Sindh education department has cited various reasons for banning teachers’ unions. According to this notification, these unions were being misused by teachers. For example, teachers often went on strikes as a reaction to the government’s inability to meet their demands. In fact, according to well-placed sources, they often employ this method of non-cooperation as a way of negotiating for higher salaries.

It appears their concerns are not entirely misplaced for sometimes, unions do stand up for rather strange causes. A case in point is that of a female student appearing for her LLB examination in Karachi University who was allegedly harassed by a few employees. When students intervened and beat up the culprit, the employees’ union staged a protest, left their duties and threatened dire action. It is bizarre cases like this that show that employees’ unions do have the ability to misuse the power given to them.

Of course, one can’t help but wonder if unions are really as bad as they are made out to be. Many believe that unions, even though they may stand up for the wrong cause at times, are an absolute necessity in any educational institution and so, this sudden ban is really uncalled for.

Among teachers, there is a consensus of sorts — maybe unions have been banned because they were the sole voice of dissent on some of the policies pursued by the Sindh education department to date. The process of recruitment of teachers in government-run educational institutions which began during the previous city government’s rule was abruptly ended by the present regime. Bribery, political appointments and personal contacts are playing an increasing role in getting people employment in the educational sector. Moreover, there is a huge imbalance in the strength of teachers across different schools. In some public schools, there are 20 teachers for 25 students. In others, there are no teachers at all.

Teachers’ unions constitutes one group that actively pursues these issues and is all for a massive reform in public sector education and a quick look at some of the major events in the past few months confirms this. For instance, on April 29, 2006, more than 7,000 college teachers across the province went on strike to protest vandalism in Karachi’s colleges and the inability of the Sindh education department to deal with the perpetrators (Dawn, April 30, 2006).

But apparently, this form of protest didn’t go too well with the higher authorities. Instead of paying heed to the root cause of the dissent and trying to eliminate them, they decided to attack the unions and silence them once and for all.

Another opinion which prevails is that unions and associations of teachers are really a non-issue. They exist, hold their meetings and give their statements to the press. It is best to leave them as they are. This school of thought believes that there are more important matters related to education in Sindh. There are other atrocious and widespread practices like cheating, for instance, which need to be banned first instead of unions.

Specifically, some teachers, when approached had the following to say:

“There shouldn’t be a ban on teacher unions because teachers have rights, too, and unions help enforce those rights,” stated Zareen Ahmed, a teacher at a private school. “Of course, when we talk practically, some unions are used for a political purpose. So you never know.”

According to Zainub Qaimkhani, a teacher at a religious school, this is “really a non-issue. Teacher unions don’t have any constructive role as such.”

Students, however, have mixed views on the subject.

“I haven’t really been following the news but in my opinion, of course, there shouldn’t be a ban on teacher unions. They get paid such a meagre salary. They have a right to form unions. I say it’s absurd to put a ban on such unions,” said Sarah Abdul Rehman, a medical student.

Bushra Anwar, a Bachelor’s student, voiced her thoughts on the subject: “It depends on the institution. In schools, unions might be troublesome because those are smaller and closely run set-ups. But in universities they are needed because that’s where the administration is ineffective.”

Mahwah Ajaz, a Master’s student is in favour of the ban. “I feel it is a good decision. Unions are being used for entirely the wrong reasons. It is a good thing to have a stronger hold on pressure groups’ activities,” she said.

Nayyara Rahman, a business student, concurs. “I don’t know when and why the ban was placed. But I do feel that it’s about time some checks and balances were imposed. Of course, the ban will squash the freedom of expression, but it will also prevent malpractice and exploitation of already-depleted resources. It will put the greedy teachers in their place and will make sincere and devoted people truly stand out.”

At this point in time, one is again reminded of student unions and the useful role they were playing, not only in channeling the energy of the youth towards a constructive activity, but also in producing future political leaders. Once the ban on them was put in place, the entire process went haywire.

Of course, political groups exist all the same but since there are no official union elections, there is no central authority to control them. The results are clashes between different groups, resulting in strikes in public sector educational institutes. More than a few students have been critically injured and a few innocent ones have even lost their lives.

Banning all unions, no matter what the reason, is extreme behaviour. Granted that unions often give people reason enough to pull their hair out in frustration but removing them from the scene altogether won’t really solve anything. At best, it is going to give those at the helm of affairs a false sense of security but the political climate in educational institutions will steadily deteriorate, just the way it has happened because of the so-called ban imposed on students’ unions.

Myron Lieberman, author of the book The Teacher Unions, once said: “Let us not forget that teacher unions were established to promote teacher welfare, not educational achievement.” With the ban on teachers’ unions, here in Pakistan, the well-being of educators is threatened.