President negotiating directly with teachers amounts to “executive lawlessness” - GPSU

President negotiating directly with teachers amounts to “executive lawlessness” – GPSU

Oct 05, 2023 News

Kaieteur News – While calling on its members to support its demands for the People Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) government to return to the legally stipulated collective bargaining process, the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) on Wednesday described direct negotiations by President Irfaan Ali at Monday’s meeting with teachers as a “display of executive lawlessness.”

The GPSU also noted in a statement that the move by the President to engage the teachers directly and pursue negotiations with the educators was a “total violation” of the Constitution and Laws of Guyana. “This suggests that on his ascent to office, he hypocritically swore on the Quran to uphold the said Constitution and Laws of Guyana, since instead of leading by example as he ought to do, his actions are in disdain of the Constitution, Laws of Guyana, Parliament ratified International Labour Organization (ILO) Conventions and binding Agreements for Avoidance and Settlements of Disputes,” the union said.

According to the GPSU, Ali’s “ill-advised approach is an act of negotiation in bad faith in violation of Article 23(1) of the Trades Union Recognition Act and which apparently, is intended to set the stage for another arbitrary imposition of salaries, allowances and other conditions of work.” The union noted that the “display of executive lawlessness” by the President and his team to meet and negotiate with the teachers takes the body back in time, as it reminded that such actions by the government “had been a major stimulant of the crippling 57-days strike of April-June 1999.”

The 1999 strike, which commenced on April 30 1999, disrupted the functions of public service entities and was called off following arbitration. Public servants were subsequently awarded large increases in their salaries at the time.

On Wednesday, the GPSU called on its members to support its demands of the government and the body also urged its members to, “reject the President and his cohorts’ anti-Trade Union posture.” Said the GPSU. “The people should also demand that the President put into action his vociferous proclamations of the necessity for collective bargaining, which he made in 2016 as an opposition parliamentarian. Surely, his government must be reminded that it was the workers who elevated him and his Cabinet to the positions they now exploit to the detriment of the workers.”

According to the union, the PPP/C’s government’s “intransigent behaviour is rapidly tearing the delicate fabric of national unity.” “Sowing these seeds of division in an already racially and politically fragmented country, at a time when our enemies are marshalling for our destruction is only going to reap unrest, poverty, criminal conduct, unpatriotic behavior and suffering on a scale which is unfathomable at this time,” the union said. It expressed hope that good sense prevails in the national interest.

Monday’s meeting by the President and a team of government officials including Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand and Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh, saw teachers voicing several concerns about issues affecting them, including poor ventilation in classrooms.

The government noted in a release that existing anomalies affecting teachers paid below their minimum salary scales will be amended this month. The President also announced that at least two commercial banks will prequalify and approve loans for teachers to start building and or to continue building their homes at a special interest rate once they have been allocated house lots.

The meeting was attended by dozens of teachers including head teachers, deputy head teachers, and heads of department. However, the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) subsequently noted that the educators who attended the meeting were handpicked by the authorities.

The GTU noted that the teachers who attended the forum had no authority to speak on its behalf or its members and President of the GTU, Mark Lyte noted that no executive member of the body attended the meeting.

While the teachers who attended the meeting told the President they preferred increase in allowances instead of increases in their salaries, the GTU said the teachers’ call differs from the union’s position for an across the board increase on salaries for all teachers.

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Bigging-Up of President Irfaan Ali, Government, People Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C), President, teachers

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