General Secretary of the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU), Coretta McDonald is of the opinion that the Government is using delay tactics to eventually award a unilateral across-the-board increase rather than what the union would have bargained for.
This comment came just after President Irfaan Ali, when asked about the negotiations with the Union over wages, salary and other benefits, noted that he will be embarking on countrywide consultations with teachers.
In response, McDonald told the Sunday Stabroek that the GTU sees this as a ruse to implement an across-the-board increase.
“It is all a waste of time, and this is what this Government is good at. They are good at being very deceptive by posting pictures on Facebook and others to show, oh, the GTU is engaged in negotiations, it’s just a waste of time because all that we have been able to look at is nothing cementing what we have looked at. So, we keep going in circles all the time and every time we meet something about the figure is not right. It’s a go and a come and go and come. This is saying to me that this Government is just stalling the entire process to wait for November, early December and then to dish out again to the nation’s teachers an across-the-board increase. We have gone nowhere with those negotiations”, McDonald lamented.
The GTU and the government would routinely engage each other on wages, benefits and salaries. Multi-year deals have also been on the agenda.
No agreement has been signed between the union and any government since 2018. Instead, public servants are given increases, which means teachers would also get an increase. This government and its predecessor have been accused of continuing to ignore collective bargaining despite asserting that International Labour Organisation conventions are being complied with.
In 2018 under the APNU-AFC government, teachers across Guyana were able to benefit from a multi-year agreement that would have taken some time to construct. However, fast forward and the issues remain stagnated under the PPP/C government, which has not signed a multi-year agreement with the GTU since taking office.
The PPP/C government has in the past, flagged the union as a body that is politically biased and does not truly represent the needs of teachers.
As such, the President on July 12 at a press conference maintained that he plans to get involved with the process by speaking to the teachers themselves.
The General Secretary contends that the move does not make sense since the government has already stated that it has plans for teachers.
“He spoke about this comprehensive package that the government has and the Guyana Teachers’ Union finds it strange that the President is saying that he prefers to consult with teachers nationwide. I mean, what exactly are you saying? Is it that the President just doesn’t know what he is about …? If you have a comprehensive package, how is it that you are now going to have consultations to find what teachers want? Does that make sense? It doesn’t”, she asserted.
McDonald said that this remains disrespectful to the union and the teachers since talks have already been held and a package has been developed in the interest of its members.
“You spoke about an extensive comprehensive package, now you are trying to be disrespectful to the teachers’ representatives saying that you are now going to consult with the teachers. The package that has been proposed there, the proposal that was submitted to the government, it’s because of countrywide consultation with our teachers that we came up with the package”, McDonald argued.
She said also that the fact that just a few figures have been changed and a few additions made, is evidence that the package that they created is nothing new.
“The package we had in 2006, the format is the same, but some things are different because as the years progress the needs become different. In terms of percentage, it will be different because when you look at what is happening with the cost of living and all of that you cannot continue to ask for 5%, 7% or 8%”, she said.
McDonald said if the government truly is consulting with teachers countrywide, it is hoped that it will give them what they want.
“The Union is very, very concerned that this government which has also spoken about collective bargaining and consulting with workers’ representatives, is now seeking to be very hypocritical itself by now saying that you are bypassing the union, you are bypassing the proposal that has been submitted by the union which you just looked at, and to now say that you prefer to have consultations with teachers. Well, let me say that the teacher will say what we have been asking and they might even ask for more. I’m hoping that when the teachers have spoken, he is prepared to offer what they have asked for”, the General Secretary declared.
If not given the right benefits, McDonald warned that the government could see teachers leaving the country also.
“More and more we get the impression that this government is just being very deceptive, being very spiteful, and being very disrespectful to teachers across this country, and just as we see the nurses are leaving in droves, don’t be surprised that come September, we might very well find many schools with empty staff rooms because teachers will leave”, she warned.
