Strike in Ethiopia

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33478, 8 March 1974, Page 11

Strike in Ethiopia

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright) ADDIS ABABA, March 7. Riot police fired tear gas to disperse a huge anti-Government demonstration in Addis Ababa today as Ethiopia fell under the grip of its first general strike. The Confederation of Ethiopian Labour Unions (C.E.L.U.) ’ claimed it had massive support for its strike call, and with transport and other industries at a standstill, thousands of people took to the streets of the capital to demonstrate their support. The workers’ main demand is for a dailv minimum wage of SEth3 (about $11.15). Some labourers now take home less than SEthl a day. The strike call follows the military uprising last week that caused the fall of an unpopular Government which' had been in power for 10 years, and caused the Emperor, who is 81. to promise sweeping political reforms. Some of the troops who won pay rises of nearly 40 per cent after the uprising,

[sympathise with the workers’! grievances. The 60,000 officers and men of the ancient empire’s .farmed forces are now back in their barracks. ! l The strike has been called ■by the Confederation of | i Ethiopian Labour Unions, to I which belong employees in ‘(airlines, banks, hotels, road ’ and rail transport, and industry. Workers in Government ) organisations such as the f water, power, and telecommunications enterprises, are ‘ not affiliated, and are not j allowed to engage in union 1 activities. One of the " C.E.L.U. demands is that this ; ban be removed. '( C.E.L.U. leaders have told r their members to stay off the .(Streets, but the workers ‘ without unions, and student 'radicals, are expected to ;[ demonstrate.

Ethiopia, with 25 million people, has been sorely (troubled by famine, and riots have occurred in the capital against high prices and unemployment. 1 To replace the Government (that fell to the military uprising last week, Emperor Haile Selassie appointed the Oxford-educated Mr Endalkatchew Makonnen, aged 46, as Prime Minister, and he has named 14 men to his new Cabinet, but is still struggling, a week after his appointment, to fill the key portfolios of finance, land reform, and education.