Support pours in for teachers strike

Feb 07, 2024 News

---

– as opposition, unions condemn Govt. ‘intimidation tactics’

Kaieteur News – Support for teachers currently on strike due to poor wages and other conditions of service has grown with the main opposition political party and one of the major umbrella trade union movement backing the industrial action.

The Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) from Monday called its members out from the classrooms after the Irfaan Ali Government refused to engage the union in collective bargaining to determine a multi-year agreement which should have been in place since 2019. Instead the government last year met with selective teachers to determine some fringe benefits, but ignored the union’s comprehensive proposal. Since the strike started government has branded it as illegal and has threatened to deduct the salaries of those teachers who participate in the industrial action.

It has also discontinued collecting dues for the union, which is catered for under the agency shop arrangement the union had established with the Ministry of Education. Both on Monday when the strike started and Tuesday hundreds of teachers took to the streets crippling operations in most schools, forcing the government in a public relations stunt, with centrespread advertisements with the few teachers who showed up for work.

Government sympathizers have also used their facebook page to attack union leaders- some even issuing threats to persons who dare to oppose them.

Coalition stands firm

Meanwhile, the APNU+AFC Coalition said it “stands firmly with the teachers of Guyana during this crucial time, as they intensify their efforts to get the government to meet their legitimate demands.” According to the opposition, “we fully understand the challenges teachers are facing and are morally outraged by the injustices meted out to them by the current regime. Rest assured, we are committed to reversing all punitive measures instituted by the PPP/C and to ensuring that the rights and welfare of teachers are upheld and improved.”

Noting that, they recognise the importance of collective bargaining and will respect the legitimate representation of teachers through the GTU, the opposition said “it is unacceptable that the Ministry of Education has neglected the union’s concerns and attempts to undermine the duly-elected representatives of teachers.

“We are paying close attention to the ongoing industrial action taken by Guyana’s teachers. We understand their fight for betterment through a multi-year agreement with the Ministry of Education. The behaviour of Ministers Manickchand and Hamilton is anti-union and anti-working class. The PPP continues to disregard and trample on the human rights of teachers, students, parents, and other citizens,” the coalition noted.

The opposition said “as we prepare for the upcoming elections, we want to assure teachers that upon assuming office, we will prioritise their needs and ensure that the oil wealth reaches all Guyanese, including teachers. We are committed to restoring what was taken away from them. We see the improvement of working conditions and well-being of teachers as one of our moral responsibilities.”

In addition, the opposition said it sees it as integral to “our People-centred Development Strategy which states, in part, that we will “ensure that the needs of the people, such as health care, housing, water, electricity, education, transportation, and other social services are of a high quality and guaranteed.” “To teachers across Guyana: your dedication to educating our nation’s youth is invaluable, and we stand united and in solidarity with you in your pursuit of fairness and justice. Together, we can make teaching a fulfilling and rewarding profession. Together, we can build an education system that is unmatched in the region,” the opposition stated.

Outraged

Adding its voice to the industrial action, the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) said it is outraged at the brazen attempt by the PPP government to criminalise teachers who have heeded the call of their union to take industrial action in pursuit of their struggle for a living wage and to get the government to honour its responsibility to engage workers’ representatives in collective bargaining.

According to the WPA the right to strike is both a sacred right and a central pillar of any democratic society. It said the struggle to transform Guyana and the Caribbean from colonial rule to Independence was led primarily by workers organised in their unions. In that regard, the WPA said our political history and culture are deeply rooted in trade unionism.

“WPA, therefore, condemns the heavy handedness of the government towards striking teachers as the worst form of neo-colonialism which ultimately can only lead to a weakening the GTU and stripping the workers of their legal and legitimate right to representation. WPA has no hesitation in standing with the teachers in their exercise of their god given and democratic right to take collective action in pursuit of their entitlement to a living wage. The teachers’ case is just—they work for starvation wages in an economy of relative plenty. No decent government which is concerned with the welfare of its citizens can justify the kind of wages teachers receive. Offering the teachers increases in allowances rather than a raise of their wages is tantamount to willful pauperization. In normal times teachers’ wages are inadequate, but that inadequacy is exaggerated by the high cost of living.”

The political party also calls on the government to pay the teachers a just, living wage—”you can afford it. It is the height of contradiction that a government can boast of exceedingly high economic growth and unveil a 1.14 trillion dollars budget but refuses to pay public servants a decent and livable wage. WPA charges the government with undisguised discrimination against a category of workers who do not belong to its political constituency. While the government exhibits the traits of an anti-worker regime, it is particularly harsh on workers who do not belong to its ethno-political base.”

The WPA said the government’s charge that the teachers’ strike is political is laughable, noting that all strikes are political. “But to accuse the GTU of partisan action because one of its officials is a member of parliament is the height of hypocrisy since the top official of another union is a government MP. In this regard, WPA condemns the personal attacks on “Sister Coretta McDonald.” “All right-thinking Guyanese must rally in defense and protection of Ms. McDonald. These cowardly attacks are consistent with the current government’s attitude to women.”

Further, the WPA said the charge that the strike is unlawful represents a dangerous development. “The government has now arrogated unto itself the roles of accuser, prosecutor, judge and jury. This is nothing short of naked autocracy. The subsequent decisions to withhold the wages of striking workers and to discontinue deducting union dues are well known acts of dictatorships. These shameful acts by the government have returned Guyana to the bowels of authoritarian rule. It is the government that is acting unlawfully—its refusal to engage in collective bargaining is a crime of great proportion. Its open threatening of defenseless workers with the might of the state is a high crime.”

“WPA, therefore, urges all Guyanese to rally around the teachers. We call on the government to heed the union’s call for arbitration as a first act of good faith. We further urge the government to cease and desist from war propaganda against the teachers. Guyana deserves better. We affirm our party’s commitment to the struggle for all Guyanese to equitably benefit from the Oil and Gas windfall that Guyana now enjoys,” the statement concluded.

Deeply concerned

For its part, the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) said it is deeply concerned that the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Government is seeking to reduce the GTU legitimate grievances to accusation that the Union’s leadership is racist. “East Indian Guyanese have reached out to the GTUC leadership to inform us they have been solicited by Government representatives to denounce GTU General Secretary Coretta McDonald for attacking the East Indian community. GTUC has since seen news items making similar allegations which have no basis in fact or truth. These accusations are downright wicked, deceptive and in itself racist. The Government is accusing Ms. McDonald of doing exactly what they want to do. The PPP has put its public relations machinery that has gone into high gear to cloud the issue that has caused teachers to take industrial action. They are ignoring telling the public the industrial action is a result of their failure to engage the GTU on the Multi-Year Proposal for Wages/Salaries and Working Conditions submitted since August 2020.”

According to the GTUC, the PPP is most uncomfortable seeing unity of the races, that is their biggest fear, and they will stoop to any level to create disunity, even when there is common interest. “The issue of the teachers is not about race or party politics, it is about bread-and-butter issues that transcend race and politics. At the end of the day, they all face the same market prices. The PPP has no moral authority to accuse others of being racist when they have historically and continuously used the race card to full political advantage. They are using race as a factor in effort to divide the trade union movement. They seek division in the trade union movement because they fear the power of a united people rising up against them. Labour more than any organisation has that potential power of uniting the people,” the statement added.

According to the GTUC it is a matter of fact the PPP has on every occasion sought to resolve differences in industrial grievances where the majority of workers are East Indians. “Where the majority of workers are Africans their grievances are ignored. When these workers pursue legitimate industrial actions to have their grievances addressed, the PPP accuses union leaders of being racist, politically driven or engaging in illegal activities.”

The GTUC said the nation is well aware the PPP government is prepared to facilitate discussions between the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) and the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) and the National Association of Clerical Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE), both of which are being led by East Indians.

“Correspondingly the GTU, Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU), Guyana Bauxite and General Workers (GB&GWU), whose leadership is primarily Africans, continue to be ignored by the PPP. Presently GPSU has matters before the court because of government’s decision not to engage in collective bargaining with the union. GTUC calls on the PPP government to let good sense prevail and stop playing the race card. They must uphold the Constitution and Labour Laws of Guyana by meeting the union across the table. Article 147 (2) protects the right to strike and Section 23(1) of the Trade Union Recognition on the employer, in this instance the Government of Guyana, to negotiate in good faith,” the statement concluded.

---

• APNU+AFC coalition, GPSU, GTU, poor wages, PPP Govt., teachers strike, WPA

---