Bakery workers seek help for ailing colleagues

The Bakery Workers’ Trade Union in South Sudan is calling for support after 17 workers fell sick and are yet to receive proper treatment.

The chairperson of the union, Deng Malual, lamented during a media address after the launch of the union that they work 24/7, seven days a week.

 “Our work starts at night and ends in the morning. We work a lot and this has caused a lot of harm to us. Now many people are not seeing well because they are always looking into a fire with a lot of smoke: it is very tough, ” he lamented.

He added, “We just work to meet the demand of the businessman. We work until we feel very tired, and that is when we can rest’’.

Malual stated that the union was searching for a way forward to treat some of their colleagues who are now very sick in the hospital in Juba, adding that they lack finances.

“We have 17 people affected by tuberculosis (TB) in Central Equatoria and seven are in the Juba Military Hospital, five are in Marakajiran Primary Health Care, two in Kuwait, and three in Kator Primary Healthcare. Centre. Three others are sick, but we are not yet sure what they are suffering from, ” he said.

According to Malual, the problems they face is not only restricted to the bakeries in Juba; the same kinds of issues are also happening in Wau, Western Bahr el Ghazal, Northern Bahr el Ghazal and other parts of the country.

“It is worse in the states because those people are seriously affected because they use their hands, and that is what causes a lot of chest pain,” he said.

 The union was formed in order to protect the rights of the employees in their different places of work.

The minister of labour and public service in Central Equatoria state, John Modi Mule, said that the government will provide support to the workers’ union despite the challenges that they also face.

“We will solve the issues.” Please understand the situation right now in the country. We know what our civil servants are going through, ” Mule said.