“We’re not afraid of sanctions” – teachers defy threats by govt. to continue protest for better wages

Feb 14, 2024 News

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By Christal Yong

Kaieteur News – Teachers braved the mid-morning sun to protest in front of the Ministry of Finance on Main Street, where they continued their calls for better salaries and working conditions.

The teachers told Kaieteur News that they are unafraid of sanctions to be imposed by the Ministry of Education in the form of deductions from their salaries for the days they participated in the teachers’ strike and protest, which is in its second week.

“We are not children, we are not slaves, don’t treat us as if we are,” said Carolyn Garraway, a teacher who was resolute in her stance that the Guyana Teachers’ Union’s demands must be met by the government.

She said, “My call now, then and forever, is to engage the Teachers’ Union in collective bargaining.”

On Tuesday, Kaieteur News reported that despite guarantees from Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo that protesting teachers will not be victimized, the Ministries of Education and Local Government and Regional Development advised that there will be salary deduction for teachers who did not report for duty or did not have approval for leave for the week ending February 9, 2024. The joint advisory stated that the ministries are in possession of a list of names from each of the 11 Education Districts who did not report for duty last week.

“We are not victimising anyone because you go on the strike but I want them to understand that this is a political strike,” Jagdeo told reporters last Thursday at his weekly press conference.

Meanwhile, Garraway explained that the government needs to demonstrate maturity and sit at the table with teachers to discuss the Union’s proposal.

“We put forward a proposal, sit with us and have a discussion as it relates to the proposal with us, and not making decisions that you think will best suit us. The Government cannot know what will best suit us. Our union would have engaged with us and so they know and understand our concerns, so the best person for them (Government) to sit with, is our union. That is all we are asking for, collective bargaining.”

Garraway told Kaieteur News that teachers are not blinded to the fact that they will not get all that has been asked for but are hopeful that the government will meet the Union half-way.

“We know that we cannot get all that we want, but we must get what is necessary and that is our economic needs and that is why we will continue to be here, regardless of the government laws… Because we will still die with this little salary, whether they cut it or not, we will still die, because we can’t eat roads and buildings, and roundabouts,” she said as her colleagues nearby expressed their agreement.

Garraway posited that if the government fails to act, then the economy will be affected.  “If the government does not budge let them watch the nation fall to pieces on an economic level, because this time is National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) and the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations. Our children and our economy and all of this, will be a waste of time.”

Ryan Heywood said the move by the government to deduct money from striking teachers’ salaries demonstrate its uncaring nature. He said, “Personally when persons threatening me, I retaliate, and if you noticed this is the reaction of teachers. When you threatening people, you are telling people that they have no other choice, no other options, and we as human being, we always like options and the government isn’t giving any options and all we are asking for right now, is that we have options and that we go to the table with the GTU, and we put forward what we have, and they put forward what they have and we meet half-way or something.”

Heywood noted that the government’s indication that it will deduct money from teachers’ salaries seeks to suggest that teachers have no other option but to return to the classroom and be content with whatever little they are receiving.

“They are telling us that we have no other option but threats and threats, taking away our salary, deduction, or whatever it is, those are share threats and we don’t react nicely towards threats,” the teacher said.

He continued: “At the end of the day, they [the Government] may think that cutting our salary may hurt us. Yes, because we need our salary, we need every bit of it. That’s one of the reasons you see soon as pay day is announced, all the teachers line up at the bank, mostly public servants, because they just waiting for this pay day, and that is the evidence of living from pay check to pay check, because, soon as pay day, we line up. If they [the Government] don’t budge, the children at the schools, or who are not in school at this time and not being taught, they are the ones and their parents, who will feel it the most. So it has a ripple effect on the cutting of salary, and it has so much of a ripple effect, hurting us, but mostly, it will hurt the children and the parents, when they see them grades, come CXC and common entrance (NGSA).”

Another educator Roy Bishop who stood in solidarity with his colleagues on Main Street told Kaieteur News that, “The ministry gatta do what they gatta do, we will do what we have to do. We will remain here until they meet with the union.”

Bishop noted that despite the government’s threats, teachers will not back down. “We are going to stand strong and we will stand in solidarity with our union and each member. If they cut our salary, we will live, we have been living on that small salary and we will live, so if they take it away, so go ahead.”

Bishop added, “We will remain here until they budge, Common Entrance (NGSA) is coming, CXC is coming, School Based Assessment (SBA) gatta be submitted so we will remain here. Government… the State will feel the pain.”

Claude Wilkinson, like his colleagues, said the government can opt to deduct teachers’ salaries but the issue remains that teachers deserve to be properly paid.

“We don’t care if they deduct the money, because at the end of the day, bread and butter is not a political issue or what they say, and they know for a fact that the money we are being paid, it cannot sustain us for a whole month,” Wilkinson told Kaieteur News.

He continued: “As teachers, I will tell you straight up, what we do is help out children. We help them buy lunch, we help them with transportation and there is no money allocated at the school for us to do that, so, our income helps out the children.”

Another teacher Stephon Josiah described the threat to deduct salaries from striking and protesting teachers as “shameful”. He told Kaieteur News that the Ministry of Education’s approach is quite disappointing.

“They should be focusing on resolution and not necessarily a fight. What we are seeing from actions like that is that they are signaling to the teachers, we [Government] are going to fight you. Teachers are saying that they are not comfortable and it is the government’s responsibility to contribute to us in being comfortable, and when they are taking actions like that, they are really contributing to a bigger fight.”

Josiah posited that the posture adopted by the government suggests that “we don’t have a functional society”.

“It is saying to us that we don’t have a functional society, it saying to us that actions in the future will not be recognized. If people have grievances, there are ways to resolve that and when you have a nation resorting to ignoring its people like that, you are not going to have peace in your society.”

The teacher explained that, “I am fairly qualified, I’ve done the trained teachers’ certificate, I’ve done the Certificate of Education from the University of Guyana (UG), I have done a Masters, and I still do not take home $200,000, when the month comes.”

The frustrated man told Kaieteur News: “Before the month is over, I am looking for the other pay cheque; I am looking to answer questions from my family, where we are getting our next meal from?  I am saying that because, the cost of living is so high that my earnings are not adding up.”

Another teacher who asked to be identified only Sir Thomas said he stands firmly with the Union.

“We are with the Union, we stand by the Union, and if our sacrifice is that sometime or some point of time we will lose, we are here to gain.”

He added: “If we are here and we are standing by our word. We are intelligent teachers and if we standing by our word; we must not be trampled on, we are standing here all the time, and if they [Government] are not budging, they better budge to positiveness.”

Thomas said too that teachers go the extra mile to provide for their families. “That can be in many forms, we work nights, we work extra in the afternoon, and we work weekends, just for something to supplement our income,” he said.

 

 

 

 

 

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• GTU, increase, salary, strike, teachers

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