Arts Teachers Threaten to Resume Strike Over Salary Harmonization Delay

Arts and Humanities teachers may resume industrial action if the government fails to implement presidential directives on salary harmonization and welfare commitments in the ongoing 2026/2027 to 2030/2031 budgeting process.

The warning has been delivered by the Uganda Professional Humanities Teachers’ Union (UPHTU) has warned.

In a March 11th, 2026 letter, addressed to the Minister of Public Service, the union noted with concern that the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development did not allocate any funds for Arts and Humanities teachers during the current budget planning. The issue emerged during an interministerial meeting held on March 10, 2026, at the Ministry of Public Service boardroom, chaired by the Permanent Secretary, UPHTU’s president, Akello Teopista. 

The union reminded the government of resolutions made at a meeting held at State House, Entebbe, on June 30, 2025, between its National Executive Council and President Gen. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni. According to the union, the president pledged and directed the government to harmonize salaries of Arts teachers with their science counterparts in four phases, beginning with a 25 percent increment in the 2026/2027 financial year. 

Other measures agreed included an immediate reduction in Pay As You Earn (PAYE), a government grant of 20 billion shillings to the UPHTU SACCO to support Arts and Humanities teachers, scholarships for four biological children of teachers, and construction of staff houses starting in 2026/2027. The union emphasized that any deviation from these commitments will not be accepted. 

Akello warned that failure to honor the agreed directives would leave teachers with no option but to revoke the suspended industrial action that had been halted on June 30, 2025. Copies of the letter were sent to the Speaker of Parliament, the Prime Minister, the Head of Public Service and Secretary to the Cabinet, the Minister of Education and Sports, as well as several permanent secretaries and workers’ Members of Parliament.