Former senior Guyanese trade unionist, Kaisree Takechandra has chided the Ministry of Labour for abdicating its conciliatory role in the ongoing teachers’ strike for better wages and salaries.
“It is my humble opinion that the Ministry of Labour is abdicating its conciliatory roles as a mediator, rather it is sitting on the sideline and joined the proverbial bandwagon by labelling the strike illegal, while the nation suffers”, the trade unionist stated in a letter which appears in today’s Stabroek News.
Stabroek News yesterday attempted to elicit a comment on the ministry’s role from Chief Labour Officer, Dhaneshwar Deonarine but he was not available.
Takechandra noted that the teachers’ strike has been protracted and to date Guyanese are clueless as it relates to the stage of negotiations between the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) and the Ministry of Education (MoE) even before the strike was initiated.
According to him, as far as he is aware the ministry has not intervened through its conciliatory role as it should.
“There is much more to gain by intervention, than by staying aloof, the government will be on solid ground should the union refuse the services of the Ministry of Labour”, Takechandra remarked.
The former long-serving General Secretary of the National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE) noted that playing the political blame game will not resolve the current stalemate between the education ministry and the union.
He posited that “at the end of the day, there must be terms of resumption and the issues that led to the strike will have to go back to the bargaining table for direct negotiations at the Ministry of Labour for conciliation”.
Takechandra added that the situation can also be addressed before an Arbitration Tribunal. He said that this medium of resolution can be easily determined by the Collective Bargaining Agreement (i.e. the recognition agreement between the GTU and the government).
According to the trade unionist, the optics of the current industrial conflict are sending mixed messages as neither the government nor the teachers’ union clearly stated if there were ongoing negotiations before the industrial actions. If there were ongoing negotiations, what are the specific issues that triggered the strike? he queried.
The former NAACIE General Secretary continued “At what stage of the grievance procedure the parties were at when the strike called?” and “Did the union utilise the service of the Ministry of Labour at Conciliation?”
According to the former trade unionist, the onus is on the labour ministry to intervene to bring both sides back to the bargaining table.
He noted that both students and parents are suffering the most under these strenuous and stressful circumstances.
Assuming, but not accepting, that the strike is deemed illegal, Takechandra said that it does not preclude the Ministry of Labour from intervening or facilitating discussions with both the GTU and MoE.
“The GTU would not have been the first union to violate the grievance procedure, and in the context of pursuing disputes at negotiations, it will not be the last union”, Takechandra said.
According to the former trade unionist, the critical issue is not about how much teachers have been paid under the APNU+AFC government but it is about the Ministry of Labour taking the lead in bringing both parties back to the bargaining table.
He added that “the parties are supposed to be at negotiations over a new collective Labour agreement of which wages/salaries are the most controversial issues, as always.
“There is the expectation among the membership of the teacher’s union that the outcome of the negotiations shall result in reasonable remuneration”.
Takechandra said that a resolution is more likely to be achieved through the direct negotiations process or third-party involvement.
Meanwhile, Minister of Labour Joseph Hamilton was adamant yesterday that the teachers have to end their strike so that the GTU and the ministry can fully engage on matters relating to better wages and salaries.
He told Stabroek News yesterday that the two sides cannot discuss the way forward as it relates to better wages, salaries, duty-free concessions and other requests by teachers as stated in the collective bargaining agreement if these protests persist.
Hamilton reiterated his position of the strike being illegal and contended that meaningful engagements between the union and the Ministry of Education cannot be held under ‘duress’.
He said that GTU should now urge the teachers to abate the protests.
Hamilton said that at this point the Ministry of Labour will not serve as a conciliator in this situation.
“It is a simple labour principle once you are engaged in industrial actions, you have to call that off because the party on the other side of the bargain will not negotiate under duress, so it is something that we must understand”.
“You cannot want better wages and salaries, but at the said time moving ahead with these industrial actions. If you want the government to engage you on the matter, then call off the protests, it is a simple case scenario of the employer versus the employee, if you are protesting how you expect the employer to engage you”, the Minister reasoned.
“Your demands cannot be met on the road call off the strike and come to the bargaining table that is all I am saying and I warned the teachers that if you engaged in any picketing exercise this action will be deemed illegal and the chances are your employer is not obligated to pay you, so there were warned about consequences before”, Hamilton said.
