DAR ES SALAAM, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- The Trade Union Congress of Tanzania has put off a planned countrywide strike to be staged by public civil servants against wage increase arrears.

    Union Secretary-General Nestory Ngulla told local English broadsheet The Guardian on Friday that the union would wait to see if the government would effect the payments as promised.

    He added, however, that the workers would ultimately have to go for the strike option unless the government kept its promise of paying the salary increase arrears.

    The Trade Union Congress of Tanzania announced Aug. 25 as the starting date for a three-day countrywide strike by public servants to protest against wage increase arrears.

    The same union had set forth a two-week ultimatum for early August and the deadline already passed with the union withholding the strike.

    The union has claimed that the government had owed the public civil servants around 500 billion Tanzanian shillings (434 million U.S. dollars) but the government has put the figure at around 112 billion shillings (97 million dollars).

    The countrywide strike will affect the work of some 100,000 teachers, 52,000 public health workers and 48,000 local government employees.

    The government of Tanzania announced a salary raise for public civil servants starting in January last year.