-after failure by gov’t to hold talks for 2019-2024
After a bruising four-week strike, the GTU will resume its industrial action tomorrow over the government’s refusal to hold collective bargaining from 2019 to 2024.
The government has insisted that bargaining should only be done from 2024 onwards. The Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) strike began on February 5th and ended 29 days later after court intervention. Subsequent talks between the government and the union failed.
In an advisory yesterday to headteachers and staff, the GTU said “A decision was taken by the Guyana Teachers’ Union on the insistence of its members to resume Strike Action due to failed collective bargaining between the Ministry of Education (MOE)/Government and the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU). The Union views the government’s refusal to engage in Collective bargaining as a breach of our Labour Laws and an insult to the integrity of all teachers in Guyana. We believe that enough patience was exhibited by the Union to allow MOE/Government to arrive at a satisfactory position regarding salary increases for teachers. The repeated salary impositions in December 2021, 2022 and 2023 are a clear indication that the Government is unwilling to engage the GTU meaningfully. The strike will officially resume on Thursday, May 9, 2024, and continue until further notice”.
GTU President, Mark Lyte, told reporters yesterday of the resumption of the strike. Minister of Labour, Joseph Hamilton; Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand; and Chief Education Officer Saddam Hussain were informed about the resumption of strike action. Up to press time, there was no reaction by the government to the union’s move.
Lyte added that nation should be worried about teachers migrating to other countries that have taken advantage of the situation to offer better salary packages to teachers.
The GTU’s strike was slated for 10 days but eventually lasted for 29 days and was later followed by an interim court order after government threatened to subtract monies from the teachers’ salaries and cease union dues deductions. Court-ordered mediation allowed for engagement between the two parties, however, talks between the Ministry of Education and the GTU collapsed days after the mediation was ordered.
Justice Sandil Kissoon later ruled that the strike launched by the union for collective bargaining was legal and justified and therefore the state was barred from making deductions from the salaries of striking teachers.
Attorney General (AG) Anil Nandlall, who represented the state in the matter, subsequently announced that the state will be appealing the judge’s decision. The AG expressed concerns that Justice Kissoon’s ruling could potentially set a precedent that would require employers to pay striking workers. He argued that this decision could lead to workers being compensated for work they did not perform, which he viewed as a violation of property rights. Further, he pointed out that the deduction and remittance of union dues were voluntary, and disagreed that the government’s actions infringed upon the constitutional rights to associate and form a trade union.
The union yesterday provided the following guidance to its members.
What is a Strike?
A refusal to work, organized by a body of employees as a form of protest, typically in an attempt to gain a concession or concessions from the employer.
It is a collective, organized, cessation or slowdown of work by employees to force an acceptance of their demands by the employer.
GTU calls on all teachers to join in this justified action since our rights are being infringed by our employer. This decision is supported not only by the General Council, but our private opinion poll among teachers and CIVIC-minded persons across Guyana indicates that teachers nationwide have full support for this action.
The Union asks teachers to do the following during this period:
• Do not report for work from May 9, 2024, until further notice.
• Do not listen to threats that will come from high offices. You have a right to strike as an employee. The GTU has followed all protocols which makes this strike action legitimate.
• Headteachers supporting the strike may hand over school keys to the most senior teacher(s) on staff who will be at work or where the entire staff will be on strike school keys must be taken to the Education Departments or the nearest Police Station from Wednesday, May 8, 2024.
• Follow closely releases from your Union’s Executive as we go forward.
Teachers throughout the length and breadth of Guyana are asked to support this justified action taken by your Union to ensure that the collective bargaining process is pursued between MOE/Government and GTU.
Substantial
The GTU’s industrial action commenced on February 5th and there was substantial support for it all across the country particularly in Region Two, a development which seemed to have surprised the government. Teachers also went on strike across Berbice.
Just before the commencement of the strike, GTU General Secretary Coretta McDonald had expressed frustration with the government’s handling of negotiations.
According to the union, a proposal that they submitted in 2020 did not receive a response from the government. Additionally, attempts to request conciliation and arbitration with the Ministry of Labour were unsuccessful.
Despite the union’s claims, correspondence from the Chief Labour Officer (CLO) Dhaneshwar Deonarine to the GTU showed him pointing out that the grievance procedure had not been exhausted, as per the agreement between the union and the Ministry of Education (MoE). Before this correspondence had been sent out, the GTU had written to the CLO seeking arbitration as financial matters were not addressed by the Ministry of Education, and an arbitrator mutually agreed upon by both parties was requested to commence the process.
However, no response was received from the CLO regarding the request for arbitration and the union resorted to declaring full-fledged industrial action due to the government’s failure to address their concerns, including wage increases and non-salary benefits, lack of response from the CLO, and unresolved matters impacting the stability of the education system. In its correspondence to the government to inform them of the planned strike action, the GTU had requested an urgent meeting with the Ministry of Education to discuss these matters and avoid disruption in the educational system.
After the letter on the planned industrial action was sent out, the CLO finally reached out to the GTU, urging that they refrain from taking industrial action, emphasizing the importance of following the grievance procedure in good faith for industrial relations practice. Deonarine further advised against breaching or violating the Memorandum of Agreement between the GTU and the Ministry.
Deduction
One day after the strike began, the MoE made its first move against teachers by announcing its plan to discontinue the deduction of union dues on behalf of teachers. In a press release issued by the ministry on February 6, the MoE explained that the decision to cease deductions was made per a ruling by Chief Justice Ian Chang in the case of Guyana Public Service Union v Nanda Gopaul.
The ministry then took things a step further, on February 12, vowing to cut the salaries of striking teachers. In response to this, the GTU threatened and made good on its threat to take the government to court over the MoE’s actions.
After the union’s statement of claim against the state was filed on February 14, the government, through Attorney General Nandlall and its other legal representatives, made an application for a 14-day grace period to come up with a response. This was granted and the matter is set to be heard on March 20. Justice Kissoon, who granted the extension, also ruled that the status quo be maintained, thereby stalling the deduction of strike days from teachers’ salaries and maintaining the deduction of union dues, pending the outcome of the matter. It was these orders that eventually led to the Judge asking why there were no talks between the two sides and eventually ordering mediation.
On February 27, the CEO Hussain was summoned before Justice Kissoon after being found in contempt of court for issuing a circular which stated that teachers’ salaries will still be subject to deductions and that the court’s ruling was temporary. Hussain apologised to the judge, who, after accepting the apology, suggested that a mediation meeting be held in court between the two parties.
The GTU readily agreed to the meeting taking place the following day, but Nandlall asked the court for 24 hours to confer with his superiors before making a decision. The following day, despite Nandlall’s disagreement with mediation, Justice Kissoon ordered that the meeting be held under the mediation of Senior Counsel Edward Luckhoo and Robin Stoby.
Several days of meetings led to the end of the strike and bilateral talks then stalemated over the period for negotiation.
On April 19, Justice Kissoon ruled that the strike launched by the union for collective bargaining was legal and justified and therefore deductions cannot be made by the state from the salaries of striking teachers.
He also castigated testimony before the court by the Chief Education Officer (CEO) Hussain as not credible and criticised the Chief Labour Officer Deonarine for not taking steps to bring the four-week-long strike to an end.
Following his ruling there was no further engagement between the government and the union and they both stuck to their positions.
