The Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) will be holding its Biennial Elections in the next few weeks and Chairman of the Upper Demerara Branch Jermaine Figueira is confident that he will win the post of General Secretary.
Known for his leadership in a massive rally held last March to highlight the escalating violence in schools in Region Ten, Figueira promised that if elected he will work with stakeholders to ensure that the lost confidence and credibility in the union is restored.
Speaking to Stabroek News recently, the Lindener recalled that it was a number of teachers in and out of the Region who encouraged him to participate in the elections. He said that his primary focus at the time was to work with his executives on rebuilding the branch to bring it back to stage it was under the likes of Bertram Hamilton, former chairman of the Branch and President of the GTU.
According to Figueira he was compelled to take up the challenge to contest for the post after being made aware of some of the nominees, particularly those present executives of the GTU.
“The union is being starved for new vision and creativity that will bring about different approaches to representation”, he said adding that this will bring about benefits that the teachers will be satisfied with.
He declared that if a random survey is to be conducted on the membership’s confidence on the performance of the Union when it comes to representation, communication, transparency, accountability and its bargaining abilities for teachers, more than 90% of teachers will say it is very poor and they are displeased with the manner in which their union is being run.
Figueira told Stabroek News that the union cannot afford once again, “to chance its future and its teachers’ happiness on the very executives who have repeatedly failed its membership. I believe the union is very fortunate to have people, who, if given the opportunity, will do a much better job for its members”. It is in this regard that he believes that “the recycling of people who have shown consistently that they are incapable of bringing about a desired change that the teachers will be pleased with, does not augur well”, he noted, while adding that teachers this time around will not give those executives the support they are seeking.
Despite all of their outreaches, visits to schools around the country and the repetition of the same old ideas and empty promises, Figueira says that this “will not in any way impress or fool those members anymore”. Teachers, he said are fed up and tired of those executives who are disconnected from the real bread and butter issues teachers are faced with today.
He said that successfully meeting the needs of teachers requires consultations and unity.
