Dear Editor,
Permit me to make a few comments on the situation with regard to two perspectives on the teachers’ strike. Let me from the outset say that the unity across the ethnic divide is truly wonderful to behold. Which means that the best thing the politically inclined can do is to keep out of it. By “keep out of it” I mean representation in the demonstrations.
I see our venerable columnist Ralph Ramkarran has made his usual historical analysis of the situation. By now he would probably be aware that another venerable citizen well versed in our history – I was tempted to say “contentious history” and then I recalled that all history everywhere has been contentious – Eusi Kwayana, has made a contribution in a bulletin called “Politics 101.” What is remarkable is that the views are opposite. Mr. Ramkarran writes “When the PPP entered government in 1992,… a new-found militancy by that section of the trade union movement supportive of the PNC, dormant during the worst years of the dictatorship, took shape…” Mr. Kwayana writes: “Guyana was fortunate to be one of the first four countries to be identified and the rich creditor nations insisted that after a decade of falling real public sector wages Guyana’s public sector workers should benefit from the financial resources about to be released by the debt write-off. In fact, the creditor nations went further and inserted a clause in the agreement to the effect that ‘wages in the public sector should be brought to within 10 percent of the median level in the private sector’”.
“The then PPP government was prepared to honour this clause in the breach, preferring instead to precipitate a general public sector strike. The parallel to today’s teachers’ strike is stark in that whereas in 1998 the funds to pay the public servants were coming from a debt write-off, today the funds are coming from a burgeoning petroleum sector, the common element being identical players in recalcitrant PPP administrations.” Now, it is clear that these are almost opposite positions and need to be reconciled. I will not attempt to do so, but I will offer some elements present but omitted from both portrayals. First of all, the bauxite workers strike of around 1979. This is definitely not public service workers but given the impulse for striking as described in Conversation Tree, the political alignment of the workers, I think it qualifies for mention as a counter example. By the way, one aspect I remember clearly is GAWU attempting to offer relief to the bauxite workers and the Linden highway being closed to their efforts.
The militancy after 1992 does not seem to have been so newfound after all. But you might not agree. So let me cite another example. This is closer to 1992 when the PPP took over. There was a nurses’ strike around 1990 or 1991. It is true that the union leaders did not want to go on strike. But the nurses decided to walk off the job whether the leaders were going to approve the strike or not. I recall that a fund was set up at the bank for their support. Now, I have no doubt that the above two do not exhaust the counter-examples to Mr. Ramkarran’s claim and that others can recall other strikes. It should be evident that the only thing that matters and the only thing that the current teachers are concerned about is their ability to survive in the current economic situation. The beneficiaries of previous awards are long dead or retired. Where Conversation Tree is right is the need to balance the share of the national income awarded to the various sectors of the economy. That is not the teachers’ problem.
We have highly paid people called ‘economists’ who supposedly know how to solve this. And they were trained, at least in their early foundation, by previous generations of teachers. Teachers have done their part. Forbes Burnham recognized that he had a problem to find pay at the rate UG was producing graduates. He decided to introduce national service. That postponed the start of the expenditure on salaries by one year. I think we know who stopped national service. It is not for the teachers to find a solution. Just pay them a living wage. That is all they ask. And all that history about how we got to this point would make interesting reading – some day.
Sincerely,
Frederick Collins
