The Working People’s Alliance (WPA) has come out in strong condemnation of the recent deal struck between the government and the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) after months of intense negotiations on the matter of teachers’ salaries.
In a release yesterday, the WPA described the terms imposed on teachers as a “starvation wage package,” asserting that the imposition of a ten per cent increase in the first instance is “grossly inadequate,” especially when one takes into consideration the steep rise in cost of living, measured against the financial capacity of the government.
“It is an insult to our teachers to grant them such a meagre increase on their already ridiculously low salaries while the government spends huge sums on other areas of the economy. Granting a ten per cent increase on salaries of $120,000 or less (which more than half of our teachers earn) is tantamount to `cruel and unusual punishment.’ How can a government which boasts of Guyana’s high growth rate fight so hard to deny its teachers a living wage?”
According to the release, this state of affairs forces the WPA to conclude that the government was driven by an extra-industrial relations agenda. It contended that any honest appraisal of the government’s actions throughout this process should leave no doubt about its non-commitment to collective bargaining and to a living wage for the country’s teachers, while opining that the “bullying” of the union at every twist and turn is unparalleled in Guyana’s post-colonial history.
As such, the WPA sees the package as more a reflection of the government’s initial unreasonable offer than a negotiated settlement or compromise. As far as it is concerned, while collective bargaining was forced on the government by the court, the final outcome represents a serious undermining of this cardinal principle of industrial relations.
The release said that the party was “appalled” at the government’s insensitivity to criticisms of real and perceived racial bias in the distribution of income to the various sections of government workers. “That the majority of teachers are of one racial group which does not support the government should in normal circumstances temper the big-stick, hardline approach. But the government seemed oblivious to that reality, in addition to its racial insensitivity.”
The WPA added that it was “incensed” at the manner in which the government “appeared unsympathetic” to the mostly women teachers and views this “economic brutality of women” as a backward step that scars Guyana’s image. “In a country where women’s work is undervalued, this latest assault is unacceptable.”
Even the intervention by the judicial branch that forced a return to collective bargaining did not overly deter the government. WPA sees this political stubbornness and racial insensitivity as a worrying development that could have serious consequences for the expansion of democratic governance.
The release proceeded to reject the government’s argument that attendant allowances in areas such as health and housing amount to benefits for the teachers, describing it as “at best misleading,” while positing that allowances can never be a substitute for wages. It was pointed out that the allowances granted fall way short of what the GTU had proposed and that a perusal of the allowances granted by the government would show a bias towards those at the higher end of the salary scale. And since most of the teachers at the lower end, the allowances are therefore at best negligible.
The WPA stated that the GTU’s acceptance of the package is “baffling.” What it fails to grasp is that after taking strike action for seventy-five days and giving up its initial proposal of bargaining from 2019 rather than from 2024, the union in the end has delivered nothing of consequence to its membership. Further, the increases of 10%, 8 %, and 9% over the next three years amount to approximately a third of the union’s proposal, which the release stated, is in essence, a violation of the membership’s mandate to its leadership to accept nothing less than 29.6%. As such, when taxes and the rising cost of living are taken into consideration, most teachers would likely see little or no increase in real terms.
This entire affair, the WPA asserted, is is a serious blow to trade unionism which is already in a weakened state, leading the Alliance to sympathise with teachers and other public servants who express a vote of no-confidence in their unions. “The apparent non-democratic manner in which a section of the GTU leadership is alleged to have acted adds insult to injury. WPA, therefore, has no hesitation in expressing support for any rebellion by the teachers against the agreement and against their union leadership. The culture of wanton betrayal of workers by their unions is overbearing and must be confronted by the workers.”
Finally, the release sees this package as delivering another mortal blow to public education in Guyana, given its already sad state, with the WPA expressing its belief that adequate renumeration for teachers is a perquisite for a renewal of the system. “The results of the recent CSEC examinations shows the unchecked downward spiral. If teachers are not paid a living wage, many suitable candidates would not be attracted to the profession while those in the profession would leave for greener pastures. Further, government cannot demand higher standards from teachers when they pay them inadequate wages”, the party said.
