# 2011 Botswana public sector strike (18 April – June 2011)

URL: https://allhistories.com/botswana/timeline/2011-2011-botswana-public-sector-strike
Location: Gaborone, Botswana
Themes: main-event

Public-sector unions began a strike on about 18 April 2011, demanding a 16% pay rise after a three-year wage freeze. Teachers, nurses, doctors and other civil servants took part. Police used tear gas, batons and rubber bullets on strikers in Gaborone on 7 June, according to a 2012 trade-union survey. The dismissals and the end date are described differently by different sources. The International Trade Union Confederation says unions suspended the strike on 13 June and that government figures counted 2,844 dismissed workers, while an AFP report spoke of about 3,000 health workers fired for ignoring a court order. The government offered 5% or 3% depending on the source; the union leaders arrested in May saw charges dropped in December. The strike ended without reinstatement; in July the government announced severance packages instead, and the labour minister classified teachers, diamond workers and the vaccine institute as essential services. Wikipedia's article on the 2014 election lists discontent over the strike among the factors that weakened the BDP at the polls. At this point in the timeline (2011), Ian Khama (1 April 2008 – 1 April 2018) was President of Botswana, both head of state and head of government.

## Why it matters
It was a major confrontation between the state and organised labour and left a legacy of distrust among public servants.

Ruler at the Time: [Ian Khama](https://allhistories.com/botswana/rulers/ian-khama-2008)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — 2014 Botswana general election](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Botswana_general_election)
- [refworld.org — 86808](https://www.refworld.org/node/86808)
- [iol.co.za — 2011 06 16 botswanas public workers face dismissal](https://iol.co.za/news/africa/2011-06-16-botswanas-public-workers-face-dismissal/)