{"id":4663,"date":"2025-05-02T17:17:33","date_gmt":"2025-05-02T15:17:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/?p=4663"},"modified":"2025-05-02T17:17:37","modified_gmt":"2025-05-02T15:17:37","slug":"on-labor-day-south-sudan-workers-demand-salary-reforms-and-better-working-conditions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/?p=4663","title":{"rendered":"On Labor Day, South Sudan Workers Demand Salary Reforms and Better Working Conditions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Juba \u2013 Al-Wadi Newspaper<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Sudanese workers marked International Workers\u2019 Day on Wednesday, May 1st, under the global theme \u201cWorkers’ Safety and Health,\u201d with union leaders calling for urgent reforms including salary increases and improvements to working conditions amid a deepening economic crisis in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a press statement, Agasio Akol Arop, Deputy Secretary-General of the South Sudan Workers\u2019 Trade Union Federation, congratulated workers across various sectors, emphasizing the importance of Labor Day in recognizing the dedication and sacrifices of workers despite mounting challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arop described the occasion as an opportunity to spotlight workers\u2019 rights and defend them, recalling the global labor movement\u2019s roots in the 1886 Chicago protests that demanded an eight-hour workday. \u201cCivil servants in South Sudan deserve special recognition for continuing to serve under harsh living conditions,\u201d he said, urging respect for labor laws, the elimination of child labor, and the extension of social protection to all workers, including those in the private sector and NGOs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He further called on workers to stand united and promote a culture of dialogue and collective bargaining to secure their rights. Arop stressed that current wages are insufficient in the face of rising living costs and the depreciating value of the local currency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Otunet Benjamin Buba, the union\u2019s Media Secretary, highlighted the vital role of women in navigating the economic crisis, noting that many have resorted to informal work to support their families and ensure their children\u2019s education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buba criticized delays in salary payments in some states since the beginning of the year, arguing that low wages combined with high inflation are worsening workers\u2019 hardships. He urged the government to swiftly implement its plan to pay salaries by the 24th of each month, as proposed by the economic leadership, and to utilize oil revenues to guarantee timely payments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the difficulties, Buba struck a note of optimism: \u201cHappy Labor Day to all workers. We remain hopeful that regular salary payments will be restored as they once were.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

#LaborDay \u2013 A Legacy of Struggle<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The origins of International Workers’ Day trace back to the 19th-century labor movement, particularly in the United States, where massive protests erupted in Chicago in 1886 demanding an eight-hour workday. The demonstrations culminated in the historic “Haymarket Affair,” etching May 1 into global memory as a symbol of labor rights. Today, most countries observe the holiday on May 1st, with exceptions like the United States, Canada, and New Zealand, which celebrate it on different dates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Juba \u2013 Al-Wadi Newspaper South Sudanese workers marked International Workers\u2019 Day on Wednesday, May 1st, under the global theme \u201cWorkers’ Safety and Health,\u201d with union leaders calling for urgent reforms…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4664,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4663"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4663\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4665,"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4663\/revisions\/4665"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}