By Mark DaCosta- The strike by the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) which started Monday, February 5, has been a resounding success. During the one-week strike more than half the teachers withheld their labour, stayed away or joined their colleagues on the picket line.
The strike is the result of Union’s submission in August 2020 of a comprehensive multi-year proposal to the Irfaan Ali government to commence discussion on wages/salary and improved working conditions. As of February 2024 the Government has refused to engage the union in negotiation. Collective bargaining is a right protected in the Constitution of Guyana per Article 147.
Here in Guyana, the resounding calls for justice reverberate through the ongoing teachers’ strike, a testament to the long-standing struggle for fair wages and collective bargaining rights. Given government’s refusal to respect teachers’ right and spiraling cost of living, the current strike action by GTU is not only justified but also legal, drawing upon international principles and the Guyanese constitution.
The genesis of the teachers’ unrest can be traced back to years of government-imposed meagre salary increases without adhering to constitutionally mandated collective bargaining. The strike, initiated on February 5, 2024, serves as a culmination of the frustration accumulated over time, with over 6500 teachers participating in the industrial action as of February 7, leading to the closure of numerous schools across eleven districts.
Amidst this backdrop, Guyana grapples with a skyrocketing cost of living. The recent budgetary decisions by the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) government have raised eyebrows, especially the allocation of a trillion-dollar budget, which, according to critics like Members of Parliament Ricky Ramsaroop, and Leader of the Opposition Aubrey Norton reflects misplaced priorities. Ramsaroop, Norton – and countless other informed observers – argue that the 2024 budget disproportionately favours grand, unnecessary infrastructure projects over essential sectors like health, education, and social welfare.
International Labour Organisation (ILO) principles unequivocally support the right to strike as an intrinsic corollary to the right to organise, protected by Convention No. 87. The ILO recognises that strikes, even at the national level, are legitimate when they have economic and social objectives, emphasising that the prohibition of strikes is acceptable only for public servants exercising authority or workers in essential services whose interruption could endanger the population.
Experts, including Tonia Novitz affiliated with Oxford University, assert that the legal protection of the right to strike is grounded in socio-economic factors, political participation, and civil liberties. The threat of an economic sanction of employers, by wronged workers, through strikes levels the playing field for workers negotiating collective agreements.
The ILO clarifies that workers in essential services, defined as those whose interruption could endanger lives, personal safety, or health, should benefit from compensatory procedures for dispute resolution. This principle highlights the critical distinction between essential and non-essential services, with education falling into the latter category. In other words, teaching is not classified as an essential service by the ILO, therefore, teachers are allowed to strike.
The ongoing teachers’ strike symbolises a broader struggle for collective rights against an autocratic PPP regime. The government’s response, marked by withholding pay and union dues, not only violates international labour practices but also undermines the constitutionally mandated collective bargaining process.
As Guyanese educators continue their fight for fair treatment and equity, the onus is on the PPP government, to recognise the intrinsic value and rights of working Guyanese. The constitution, a cornerstone of our nation’s legal framework, must guide the path towards justice and equity. The routine flouting of constitutional principles leaves educators and citizens rightfully questioning the PPP government’s commitment to upholding the rule of law and respecting the rights of Guyanese.
According to international experts, including those affiliated with the ILO, successful industrial action hinges on the persistence and perseverance of striking workers. As the strike persists, Guyanese are being urged by countless leaders, and even parents of school-children to stand united in the fight for their individual and collective rights.
The conversation has arisen, across social media, about other public servants, such as underpaid nurses, joining the industrial action. The PPP regime’s apparent efforts to stifle the Union raise concerns about the broader suppression of collective bargaining rights, many Guyanese have commented. With those facts in mind, Guyanese citizens must unite in the face of adversity, asserting their rights against an administration that seems intent on prioritising its agenda over the well-being of the people.
