Four days into a planned two-week strike by teachers across the country, the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) on Thursday maintained that the industrial action was effective though they have not been able to even broker talks with the government.
The Ministry of Education maintains that the strike and daily protests are illegal and that a three-year running discussion on a multi-year agreement the union proposed in 2020 has not broken down.
But the GTU disagrees, saying it has been too long.
On Thursday, as some teachers continued protests across the regions and absented themselves from their classrooms, they vowed to do so for another week or until the government makes haste to address their requests, centrally for higher salaries and duty free concessions.
Outside the Ministry of Education Georgetown Office, GTU’s Regional Vice President Collis Nicholson spoke with the News Room as his colleagues chanted and danced to the sounds of African drums.
“When we look across the country, in all regions, we recognize that from day one to four, teachers have come out in their numbers.
“The government has not signaled its intention to have discussion…so we will continue to have industrial actions.
“If there is nothing from the government in two weeks, then we will say what is next,” Nicholson explained.
Meanwhile, GTU General Secretary Coretta McDonald who led the protest in Georgetown over the last three days, travelled to Region Two on day four.
There, the Opposition Parliamentarian addressed teachers and maintained, just like Nicholson, that the strike was not political and merely about “bread and butter issues.”
She explained that teachers now want the government to make a counter proposal if it doesn’t intend to honour the GTU’s proposal made in 2020, either in part or in its entirety.
The government, which has since halted the collection of union dues from teachers’ salaries in response to the illegal strike, maintains that it is, in fact, political. The government outlined a number of areas where many of the GTU’s recommendations have been implemented.
Several prominent opposition figures have headlined the daily protest by teachers, making political statements in the media.
“As I said this morning, this has nothing to do with politics… it deals centrally with our livelihood…teachers understand the need for this industrial action,” Nicholson countered.
But beyond that, with the strike now in day four, those teachers who have absented themselves from the classroom can see monies deducted from there salaries at the end of the month.
And those absent for more than three days, can be recommended for dismissal to the Teaching Service Commission.
The Regional Vice President dismissed these eventualities are mere “threats”, saying they were made by the previous APNU+AFC government when teachers engaged in industrial action and nothing happened.
“In 2018, we heard that from the previous government.
“While we understand these threats, it will not move us until there is a positive word from the government.
“…But we followed the process leading up to industrial action, everything in terms of requesting conciliation, arbitration and collective bargaining… hence we are here.”
Last week, both the Minister of Labour Joseph Hamilton and Education Minister Priya Manickchand told the News Room that the strike isn’t legal because the conditions haven’t been met.
According to Hamilton, engagements between the Ministry of Education and the GTU on the proposed Multi-Year Agreement that includes salary increases have not broken down, so by law, the union cannot call for the Labour Ministry to intervene in an arbitration process.
In such cases, the parties would first engage in discussions and negotiations as has been the case between the Education Ministry and the Union. If that doesn’t work out well, a process of conciliation follows; this helps both parties to develop their own proposed solutions. Then, there is mediation which involves the support of a neutral third party.
Arbitration is the final phase of such engagements. Through this, the parties settle their disagreement by putting the matter to arbitrators who make a binding decision on the matter.
