By Abigail Headley
“They want to show that ‘yes, we are in charge’, but they are not the ones in charge. We the people are the ones who put them in office”.
These were the words of at teacher on the frontline of another sizeable protest turnout of the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) outside the Ministry of Education (MoE)’s Brickdam office yesterday. This teacher, who chose to be referred to only as ‘Mr. Gillis’, was referring to the MoE’s decision to discontinue the deduction of union dues from teachers’ salaries.
“It’s basically what I would refer to as a big stick policy… At the end of the day, yes, I have my union dues. I wrote and I signed a document asking them on my behalf. Not the union asking them to deduct it. I signed a document saying that I want you to deduct my union dues. Just like how I would have said I want you to deduct my payments for my different insurance… So you’re working as an agent for the insurance companies, but you don’t want to work as an agent for the Union. That means you don’t have the respect for nobody,” he told Stabroek News.
A teacher for over 15 years, Gillis stated that he is behind the GTU 100%. He added that all teachers and the union are asking is for the government to “come to the table [and] let’s set a plan in place so that we can know what we’re working with. Not let’s just wait until the end of year and then you got to guess whether or not we’re going to get the increase”.
For the past two budget periods, since the current administration took up governance, teachers have waited with bated breaths to hear what was in store for them from the budgets. However, all they received were promises of “something good” that was “soon-to-be-announced” on both occasions.
Just before the announcement of the recent trillion dollar budget, the government revealed that public servants were to receive a 6.5% increase to their salaries. This is less than the 8% that they would’ve received some time back.
Months prior to the announcement, the GTU had been writing to the Chief Labour Officer (CLO) in hopes of getting the government to hold talks with them. However no favourable responses were forthcoming, hence the ten-day industrial action that is currently ongoing.
“The union is asking you to come to the table, [so] let’s set a plan in place, let’s set how we’re going to work in the development of teachers. The ministry is refusing to come to the table to meet with the union. That means they simply don’t want to set a plan in place for the teachers betterment. I’m out there supporting the union so that we can get that betterment that we seek,” Gillis stated.
As relates to the $8000 uniform allowance, the visibly frustrated teacher lamented,
“That $8000 could barely buy a shirt… if you go, let’s say you want a proper shirt, you have to spend more than $8000. And so that’s one shirt. What about your footwear? What about the pants? The thing is, it’s $8,000 a year… if it was $8,000 a month I could’ve say yes, but it’s 8000 for an entire year. And then the thing is, there’s no guarantee that you’re gonna get it in January [or] you’re getting in August. Whenever they decide to pay you that 8,000 that is when you get it. So that $8000 is ridiculous. We can’t work with that”.
Also present at yesterday’s protest in Georgetown was a teacher on secondment from Region Seven. This teacher, Robinson George, stated that he has been joining the protest from since Monday, and was eager to voice his concerns on behalf of hinterland teachers.
“People don’t know what teachers in the hinterland go through. The cost of living is very high. How you expect our salary to maintain our family?” he asked.
George went on to list the cost for such things as a bag of rice for which the price has increased. He then explained that in order to make do the inhabitants of the hinterland would usually farm, but for him personally it is still hard since he has children that he is sending to school.
“The 6.5 (8000) increase can’t do anything… I want them to look into that because the higher it (cost of living) goes, the lesser we have. Right now, I apply for land but I can’t have nothing in my savings because I have children studying also… [I have to find] $38,000 each for them, and the rent I have to pay 40,000. So this little salary that we have, the government need to look into that,” he said.
George further raised his concern for those of his teaching colleagues who are living in such areas as Georgetown, who have no means of plowing the soil to make ends meet. As such, he is standing in solidarity with the union and his fellow teachers for better wages.
Once again the protesters from the Georgetown/East Coast contingent portrayed lots of energy as they made their voices heard through chants. Amidst the rhythm of the drums and horns, passersby could hear such continuous chants as:
“She wuk we like a donkey and pay we like a junkie”
“Slippers on the ground and we ain’t backing down”
“Parents get the best and teachers get the stress”
Priya is a minister on Facebook alone”
“Priya deh pon Facebook she postin’ all day. She won’t come down to hear what teachers say”
Meanwhile, in Mabaruma the teachers also took to the streets for a fourth day of protesting. As they converged outside the Department of Education and the Regional Democratic Council Compound of their area, one of the teachers, Janice Richards, told this newspaper that the turnout could be larger but some teachers are fearful.
“We are very supportive to the union for this strike, because yes indeed our income is, is very low, especially those junior teachers… on the other hand they are… some of them I know, they’re very terrified. They cannot come up here because, especially those college students and other junior teachers, they are told by the superiors that they will be dealt with accordingly to ministry rules… Everybody is saying that this strike is illegal, but I don’t know according to the union it is legal and we are gonna support and we are hoping to get justice…,” Richards said.
This newspaper visited several schools on the West Bank and West Coast of Demerara, but teachers who were there were tightlipped and refused to speak to the media, seemingly out of fear. Representatives from schools such as Vreed-en-Hoop Primary and L’Aventure Secondary Schools told SN that they were under orders from the MoE not to speak with members of the media unless they (MoE) told them to do so.
Though school was in session as usual at Vreed-en-Hoop Primary, L’Aventure Secondary was almost empty with the absence of most teachers and students. Sources close to the school told SN that the students would show up in the mornings but would be sent home by midday because of the absence of teachers.
Additionally, police officers have been visiting these and other schools since Monday to find out about teachers attendance. As was the case with those schools on the East Coast and East Bank of Demerara, those teachers who were bold enough to speak with this newspaper, expressed fear because of the daily presence of the officers and the mandate from the MoE.
On Tuesday, SN had made contact with Commander of ‘B’ Division Krishna Ramana who at first denied the presence of police at schools but later stated that the officers were looking for protesters due to the strike.
The industrial action is expected to continue for 10 more days, and the union is hoping that the Ministry will, within this period, arrange for a meeting to have discussions on the issues at hand.
This is the most serious strike that the government has faced since it took office in August 2020 and will be seen as a personal blow to President Irfaan Ali who has engaged directly with teachers in what was seen as an attempt to undercut the GTU.
