President’s College’s acting kitchen manager was on Monday issued with a dismissal letter for insubordination but the woman says that she was fired for sending breakfast out to students on the morning they staged a protest on the Golden Grove Public Road over the quality of water they were receiving.
She says she has been blamed too for sustaining the protest and taking part in its planning.
Claudia Shultz who has been employed at the boarding school for the last 11 years has also been banned from entering the premises following instructions handed down by the chairman of the school board, this newspaper has learnt.
Speaking with this newspaper on Wednesday, a distraught Shultz said she felt that termination of service was not punishment for insubordination and was convinced that the board was annoyed that she sent tea out to the students who started the protest before breakfast was ready.
However she said her letter stated that her behaviour was insubordinate and disrespectful and would not be tolerated.
Shultz told this newspaper that she was summoned to a meeting the morning after the protest at which administrator Derrick Jodhan, Principal Cheryl Trim, Administrative Assistant Lionel Baldeo and Human Resources Officer Danelia MC Calmont were present and she was questioned by Chairman David de Groot as to where she got permission from to take food out to the students.
“When he asked me that I turn and ask him why he asking me that when there were other important matters to be looked into like the worms which were found in some of the water the students had to use,” she said.
The woman said that de Groot objected to her explanations and continued to insist that she state where she got permission from to carry out the food.
She said one thing led to another and after the meeting the other members present told her that she should have answered the chairman’s questions, but she said she felt that the other issues were more important and instead of pressuring her to find out why she sent food out for the children, he should have paid attention to the real issues facing them.
Shultz told this newspaper that she merely used her initiative because many times in the past she has had to face comments that there was too much food wastage and so she couldn’t bear to see so many gallons of tea and so much bread go to waste again.
“So the bus came in and I sent out the tea and so for the children,” she explained.
Further Shultz stated that it was being said that she had knowledge about the protest, but according to her she knew nothing about the protest until it was already in full swing.
She said the comments were attributed too to the fact that she arrived at work unusually early that day, but she told this newspaper that she went early because the supervisor of the kitchen was not at work and she just wanted to ensure that things went smoothly.
However on Monday when she arrived at work she received a letter from the office assistant which informed her of her dismissal with immediate effect and also included an order that she must ‘hand over’.
The woman said she had no idea who to hand over to and so she contacted her union, the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) and an officer went to the school. She said she received no support from other GPSU members working at the school but she subsequently left.
She said she went to see Education Minister Shaik Baksh on Tuesday at his office but was told that he was at a Cabinet meeting.
However she returned to work on Tuesday afternoon with a letter from the union which informed that she should be allowed to resume. When Shultz went to work on Tuesday she said her office was without the fan and so she sat outside where it was breezy.
She said she was approached by a security guard who told her that he was given instructions for her to leave the compound but she told him she was not leaving as her union had advised her not to do so.
The woman said she was not told anything but she learnt that the police were supposed to have been summoned but according to her she had seen no one up to the time she left Wednesday afternoon.
Procedure
GPSU president Patrick Yarde who was contacted for a comment told this newspaper that he was informed of the woman’s dismissal and subsequently wrote de Groot pointing out the union’s position on the matter.
Yarde said that in his letter to de Groot he stated that he felt his actions were not in keeping with procedure and were also not legitimate.
He conceded too that it was the union which advised the woman to return to work that day but in the letter to the board chairman the union made known its interest in meeting with him (de Groot) to discuss the matter and come to an amicable solution.
“While we felt that the action was illegitimate we acted responsibly and we asked to meet with him,” Yarde said.
Yarde said the letter was also copied to other members in charge of the school’s management including the principal, Trim.
Trim was contacted on Wednesday for comment on the matter, but told this newspaper she preferred not to make any comment at this point. She also advised that this newspaper speak with the dismissed employee for information.
Yarde said he ensured that an officer from union headquarters accompanied Shultz back to the office and the copies of the letters were delivered.
The union head said he subsequently learnt that instructions were given by de Groot to security personnel and others prohibiting Shultz from entering the premises and if she did she must be removed.
“But I told her that she should not move from there,” Yarde insisted.
According to Yarde, he then received a call from de Groot who made it clear that the woman was a trespasser.
During their telephone conversation, Yarde said he told de Groot that he should not seek to have the woman removed and advised too that since the union had intervened, this is where discussions should be focused.
Up to late Wednesday Yarde said he was awaiting any development in the situation and maintained that the union would not allow de Groot to believe that he could act above the law.
“He must respect procedure,” he insisted.
Education Minister Baksh also stayed far from this latest development saying that it was a matter for the board and so he would not comment, when he was contacted by this newspaper for his view on the issue.
However Shultz said she would have reported for work as normal.
Meanwhile Stabroek News has been informed that the quality of water being received by students is now better and more widely available.
Close to 150 students, some of them in uniform, stood in the shade of a tree on the Public Road at Golden Grove, East Coast Demerara last Thursday morning and made their concerns known to the media. They also made use of placards to highlight the issue.
