Protesters reach out to IMF
Eight days have passed since public workers spearheaded by doctors and teachers started a sit-in outside the State Palace to urge the government to give them a better wage.
Leaders of the protest submitted a letter of demand to the International Monetary Fund yesterday. They demanded a response before the end of today.
The protest is taking momentum attracting people working in various public sectors to voice their demand for higher wages. President of the Confederation of Mongolian Trade Unions Kh. Amgalanbaatar and his deputy S. Erdenebat joined the sit-in with other members on the seventh day.
“People thought that the sit-in was for calling attention to issues concerning doctors and nurses at the beginning of the sit-in. Now, people from all sectors, including scientists, teachers, artists, farmers, herders and meteorologists are taking part in the protest. Representatives from 14 member organizations of the Confederation of Mongolian Trade Unions. Basically, we want the government to fulfill their obligations and give us results,” said Kh. Amgalanbaatar.
“Today the weather is quite cold. Last week, it was very hot. The government doesn’t need to keep us sitting here at Sukhbaatar Square in this fluctuating weather. In the end, all of this shows how the government is operating,” he added.
Protesters were frustrated with the government’s indifference to this issue. Some said that the government should be ashamed of not being able to resolve problems of “merely” three million people, yet alone the employed.
“Cabinet members, open your ears and listen to us! Open your eyes and resolve our problems!” demanded Ch.Narantuya, the deputy head of the Mongolian Health Workers’ Trade Union.
“If the government doesn’t make a decisive move, schools might not be able to operate on September 1,” said Head of the Mongolian Education and Science Trade Union J.Batzorig.
Protesters are urging the government to increase their wage by no less than 50 percent before the end of the second quarter of 2018, allocate additional funds to support social welfare and ensure human resource standards of nurses in the 2019 state budget, and increase bonuses based on performance to 60 percent.