Gun to the head and precedent

May 25, 2024 Features / Columnists, The GHK Lall Column

---

Hard Truths by GHK Lall

Kaieteur News – My first thought was that the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) showed its hand too early, cut through the preambles too quickly, and went straight for the jugular immediately.  It was 20% first, and only after that, then back to the classroom.  My second was that the Ministry of Education (ministry) overreacted.  The third thought was that the ministry took a sounding of conciliation developments, didn’t like the tone (aggressive posture and numbers) of the GTU, and was looking for a way out of the stalemate, so it came up with a checkmate of its own.  Story done; done talking, done meeting, start walking.  Matters can deteriorate in a hurry in this country.  But there we were only at the opening gambit.  So, it is back to square one, or some state that is not so well-rounded.

The ministry came up with a good one.  No discussion with a gun held to the government’s head.  I nod my head.  Somebody should have a quiet word with Nicolas Maduro.  I hear the ministry, and be it 20% or 2%, it is taking matters way out of context, to present parents, children, and teachers with that freckled beauty about gun and head.  What the GTU did was put its first cards on the table, with a clear picture of where it stood, what it expected, what it is clearly demanding.  Starting point, room for flexing.  This is standard practice: no time for frills and frivolities, just state the position, and let the next round begin.  Except that there is no second round.  I think that the PPP Government was and is hell bent on not seeing this so-called conciliation process through to where it must end up.  It is binding arbitration.  The parties are so far apart that there is nothing to reconcile, the gap is too wide, the wounds too deep.  Think of a marriage on the rocks, mashed feelings, smashed emotions, and crashed visions.  The tribunes that have to listen to these hard domestic traumas have a phrase that wraps everything neatly: irreconcilable differences.  At least those two warring partners are still breathing and had the good sense to take their severed relationship to the court system.

This is where the GTU and ministry are by my assessment.  There is no love lost, no money to spare, no one budging from their position.  All are convinced that the other is operating with darkness as companion and lowness for character.  Without any intent to insult any of the principals at the GTU and ministry, is that not as accurate a conclusion as to where things are, where the people involved are stuck, and from where they do not know how to extricate themselves?  At least one side is, and it is not the union.  The GTU says it wants money (a livable wage) and some other benefits (all doable in this new Guyana Age), so why there is trouble eludes me.  The ministry was contented to speak to the union’s introduction of the dangerous, a gun with 20 live rounds inside, into the discussion.  Conspicuously, the ministry did not even bother to unholster its two six-shooters and lay them flat on the table.  There are 12 bad ones in those two, so let’s talk.  Instead of that counter, there is running for shelter.  A bad precedent would be set for this government, other governments to follow, and governments in the region.  What was that all about?  The caustic?  Hyperbolic?  How about the hysteric and theatric?  To my fellow citizens in this land of perpetual sunshine and surprises, I have my own drop-dead ultimatum cum determination shrouded in a question.  When was the last time that this woeful country set any example for anybody locally?  I will now behave like the government and sneak in a second on the sly.  When was there a time, any time, that this country, or a government from here, set any standard, left any precedent, was of any value, did one damn thing that made others in the region stood up, took notice, and applauded the boys and girls of good ole Bee Gee for delivering a good one?  We are always running to Joey, Mary, and Harry for any help we can get on any and all issues that we lack the will and smarts to resolve on our own.  Conclusion: who the hell that is in their right mind would waste one precious braincell to follow some precedent that is set here?  Especially when their levels and numbers are way ahead of ours.

The ministry needs to manifest some maturity.  When politics is the be all and end all, then all are going to hell on the Concorde.  Stop listening, stop talking, and stop thinking in any context, and there is no difference between man and the beasts of the field.  The problem is that Guyana is a tame one; the more ferocious animals would make mincemeat of it. Meanwhile, we continue to shred to pieces the hopes and rights of others.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

---

• classroom, conciliation, country, developments, Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU)

---