This week, the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) made a bold assertion — that it is finding it difficult to trust the Ministry of Education and the A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance for Change Coalition Government in general with respect to reaching a pay deal for the nation’s public educators.
Among other things, the Union, in various sections of the press, said the Government’s track record was the underlying reason for the entity’s distrust and frustration. The GTU also stressed that it had been fully cooperating with the Education Ministry over the past few months, after it cancelled a planned industrial/strike action against Government following the intervention of President David Granger back in 2016.
The Union also explained that there has been little or no communication from the Government on the proposed multi-year pay package it submitted, despite President Granger’s optimism that a deal would be reached when he addressed the issue during this year’s May Day Rally.
In fact, GTU, under the leadership of Mark Lyte as President and veteran trade unionist Coretta McDonald as General Secretary, has expressed concern time and time again about the slothfulness being depicted by the Ministries of Finance, Education and Presidency since the proposal was submitted to Cabinet for consideration.
And while these two trade unionists could continue to display patience in the face of the Government’s silence, teachers this week proved that they will not allow the Education Ministry to exploit their tolerance and self-restraint. This resulted in some teachers from the South Georgetown Branch engaging in a peaceful picketing exercise to demonstrate their willingness to struggle for better working conditions and improved remuneration.
From all indications, other GTU branches are ready to mobilise their teachers to move to the streets to demand that the Government not only show more respect for the collective labour bargaining agreement, but for the teachers themselves, who are facing insurmountable challenges both within and outside of the classrooms within the public education system.
In fact, the teachers may utilise the upcoming GTU General Council meeting set for August 28 to give a new mandate to the leadership of the Union, which may be similar to the posture the GTU adopted under successive PPP Administrations; where, as argued by many, intolerance and industrial actions were not the last but first resorts whenever talks broke down and little progress was made.
The truth is, the feelings of betrayal and frustration that are being vented by our teachers are both justifiable and understandable. After all, these teachers and their representatives have been in talks with the APNU/AFC Govt about finalising a multi-year agreement since 2015.
Following the President’s intervention, which is now being seen as a political PLOY to avoid industrial action, the task force established late last year — which comprised representatives of the Ministries of Education, Finance, Communities, Public Service and the Presidency; as well as representatives of the union — completed its work and submitted its report to Henry on April 6th, 2018, who then tabled it at Cabinet.
The Coalition Government, which campaigned on education reform, respect for labour laws, and better remuneration during the 2015 elections, cannot now change its tune when it has accessed executive power. It must now deliver, especially after several of its leading members — including President David Granger — vowed to treat our nation’s educators far better than its predecessors, in order to exact better performances and results.
The Coalition Government also has a moral duty to finalise the agreement and accede to the demands made by GTU, because it found monies — just two months after taking office back in 2015 — to pay its Ministers a 50 percent salary increase to boost their morale and performance, while insulating them from becoming ‘bribable’. It is also unacceptable that the Government continues to find huge sums of money to invest in all sorts of social and party-like ventures aimed at continuing the pomp and ceremony surrounding select national events, but cannot afford to pay Guyanese teachers what they deserve.
Just as the Government finds it easy to take credit for the gains and successes recorded by students within the public education system, it must also see it fit to reward the teachers with better terms of service, conditions of work and pay, for their sterling performance, which forms the bedrock of those successes which are celebrated by all.
The GTU, too, despite its historic affinities to the PNC-led coalition, must not exhibit double standards. The union cannot run with the foxes and hunt with the hounds. It cannot continue to empathise and sympathise with the Government, which has the ability to budget and find monies to pay public prosecutors $20,000 per hour for appearances in court, but cannot find an extra $15,000 a month for teachers, who spend more than 8 hours daily in our classrooms.
Any amount of money spent on our teachers is money well spent, and always results in value for the dollars flowing from the public purse.
