Dear Editor,
The GTU is playing the age-old PNC tactic of trying to bully Government into giving in to its inordinate demands. The GTU is playing the role of a juggernaut that would crush the Government into submission; but that would not happen, because of a number of factors.
In the first place, the teachers were in the bargaining agreement with the Government in which some 27 items were already completed. The remaining 12 items of concern deal mainly with benefits for the executive (non-teaching members of the union), and here is where the rubber hits the road. Coretta McDonald, having her political aspirations foremost in her mind, abandoned the negotiating table and took to the streets, leading the teachers as dumb sheep to the political slaughter.
Though illegal, they stated that the strike would last for ten days; the strike went into two more working weeks. Now, the first question that Coretta McDonald and her crew must face up to is who should pay the teachers for the two extra weeks of strike? Certainly not the employer, who is the Ministry of Education. The GTU then approached the court, hoping to get redress for an already messy situation. The court sent them back to the negotiating table, where discussions of this nature rightfully belong.
The Union returned to the bargaining table with the same belligerence, making some of the most outrageous demands, which in the event caused yet another breakdown.
We are at the stage where they are awaiting a court ruling on the matter. That ruling, taking all the legal perspectives in focus, would not be any different from previous rulings.
Now, as a teacher myself, I thought it best to do a quick comparison with that which obtains in another jurisdiction here in the Caribbean, particular mention being given to St Lucia.
1. The collection of union dues in St Lucia and all other Caribbean countries is a matter for the union and the worker in question. A form is given to the worker, teacher or otherwise, wherein a voluntary contribution is made to the union. The Government has nothing – I repeat, has nothing – to do with the collection of dues for a union. So, teachers in Guyana take note.
2. From cabinet decision of 2003, all teachers employed by the ministry (the same goes for nurses) are not given a pension, they are paid from their NIS contribution. In Guyana, at retirement, a teacher is given a pension as well as his NIS. Payment of pensions is of particular note, because this was a move that directly targeted Guyanese teachers who flocked into St Lucia during the Burnham/PNC years of draconian governance. The teachers’ union president openly mentioned that this had to be done to address a yearly $50M payout to teachers. Subtly, the teachers’ union president was ensuring that none of that $50M comes to Guyana
3. In St Lucia, a would-be teacher or nurse pays for his/her own training. And it must be further noted that the teacher who desires such training must be thankful to have a caring and conscientious principal, who would grant that teacher release from duties at school. In Guyana, teachers and nurses are afforded training fully funded by the Government. No wonder Coretta could have made that snide remark that we are training teachers and nurses for export.
4. Untrained teachers, as well as teachers in training, are not paid an August salary. Here, again, it was targeted to catch the Guyanese in that wide net, the Government here knowing fully well that most of the Guyanese teachers coming here were graduates but were not trained persons.
So, while in Guyana the Government seeks to add to teachers and nurses’ benefits, over in ‘the Islands’, they are taking pains at reducing the benefits. What Coretta McDonald needs to know is that the Government of Guyana is doing its level best to upgrade and make for a more comfortable standard of living for its civil servants. However, that has to be done in tandem with all the other workers in that sector. The GTU has to understand that no one sector would be remunerated over and above another. Teachers are no more important than nurses or other workers in the public service. This should be made pellucid to the GTU.
In this regard, the political rant made by the GTU cannot be accommodated.
Respectfully,
Neil Adams
