The Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) yesterday deplored President Irfaan Ali’s decision to meet directly with teachers on matters which should be addressed with their union, the GTU.
In a statement, the GPSU said that Ali’s direct engagements with some teachers at State House on October 2nd in lieu of negotiations with the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) is in total violation of the Constitution and Laws of Guyana.
It said that instead of leading by example as he ought to do, his actions are in contravention of the Constitution, Laws of Guyana, Parliament-ratified International Labour Organization Conventions and binding Agreements for Avoidance and Settlements of Disputes.
“The President’s ill-advised approach is an act of negotiation in bad faith in violation of Article 23(1) of the Trades Union Recognition Act and which apparently, is intended to set the stage for another arbitrary imposition of salaries, allowances and other conditions of work.
“Further, Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) condemns this clear display of executive lawlessness, which history would reveal had been a major stimulant of the crippling 57-days strike of April-June 1999”, the union said.
The GPSU called on workers and citizens to support trade unions’ demands for Government to return to the legally stipulated collective bargaining process by rejecting the President’s anti-trade union posture.
“The people should also demand that the President put into action his vociferous proclamations of the necessity for collective bargaining, which he made in 2016 as an opposition parliamentarian. Surely, his government must be reminded that it was the workers who elevated him and his Cabinet to the positions they now exploit to the detriment of the workers”, the GPSU said.
It warned that the government’s “intransigent behaviour is rapidly tearing the delicate fabric of national unity”.
