The Labour Act of Guyana Chapter 98:01, Sections 30, 31, and 32, identifies the mechanism of “collective agreements”, provides guidance to the parties to such agreements, and emphasizes the “binding enforceability” of such agreements. The Trade Union Recognition Act Chapter 98:07, Section 18 et seq lay out the procedures for recognition of bargaining units. The Constitution of Guyana, Section 149B refers to “pension and gratuity” and those being an “absolute and enforceable right” with “collective agreement” being pinpointed as one of the governing provisions. There could be the prudent interpretation that since pension and gratuity are derived from, and determined by, the level of wages and salaries, then there is a place for the latter under the constitution of Guyana. Of note is the fact that there is no dispute about the legitimacy of the Guyana Teachers Union as the recognised bargaining agent of striking teachers, or that there are no differences over the existence of a binding collective bargaining agreement in this instance.
This is the crux of the matter that now rages in full public view and involves teachers in the public school system of Guyana, and the Government of Guyana. The simple fact is that the existing collective bargaining agreement has been manhandled, manipulated, and mangled by the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Government, and this is not the first or second time that it has done so. It is safe to say that such manhandling and mangling have become part of both the traditional modus operandi, and what is now the chosen modus vivendi of the PPP Government. It was first with respect to public service workers in general, and now with teachers in the present boiling strike milieu.
The Ministry of Education in partnership with the Ministry of Local Government can cut the pay of absent teachers, but the fact remains that there have been continuing breaches of a valid collective bargaining agreement with the teachers’ agents. Officials of the Ministry of Labour can clamber aboard the hobbyhorse that it has christened “illegal”, but it is as plain as day as to who is engaged in illegal practices, and who isn’t. Moreover, the inflamed terrain of social media can build into a crescendo about what the People’s National Congress (PNC) did, and who did what before, plus the red herrings of annual reports not filed (an inexcusable and utterly denounceable failure), but there is no gainsaying the fact that a standing collective bargaining agreement has been violated, and seemingly at will by this PPP Government.
I now shine the spotlight on the president of Guyana, and highlight his place in the strike picture. He belongs, but not for any of the reasons that may be anticipated. Before the president, I humbly present this unwanted gift: that 6.5% increase is still a departure from the binding precincts of the collective bargaining agreement. I daresay that even 16.5% or 26.5% would still have qualified as an intrusion into the collective bargaining agreement space, no matter how well intended. For clarity, that 6.5% could never be interpreted by reasonable men and women as being well-intended. An unwashed pacifier, indeed; but with nothing healthy and well-intended about it, definitely. Frankly it was a vial of presidential acid poured callously and insultingly into a long festering wound. The 6.5% reeked of what I termed in another writing to be the essence of depraved indifference.
The president as the chief custodian of the laws of Guyana, and the chief tribune in their fair and equitable application, is duty bound to recognize and honor what those same laws have built-in provisions for, viz., collective bargaining. I respectfully exhort the president to do his part, and let this tumultuous matter be over and done with cleanly, satisfactorily, and forthrightly. There has been too much evasion of leadership responsibility. For the sake of the children (yes, the children), the president should descend from his horse, and deal with this issue in a less arrogant and more credible manner.
To bargain is to huddle and haggle. Because the now not-so-new president has been a fairly frequent Middle Eastern visitor, the example should register briskly and forcefully with him. To huddle and haggle is the street level back and forth that is overpowered by its more sophisticated and urbane stepbrother, which is collective bargaining agreement. Instead of the probably bizarre inside bazaars, there is the more controlled and civilised setting of boardrooms and the kind of conversations that just could take some place above current low waterlines. Some place, other then where things are stuck in front of the Ministry of Labour (or Finance), or one of those near or far-flung regions of Guyana.
No matter how much the president rails and rants, or pretends to be civilised (he is not good, a paltry shadow, where the latter is concerned), there is only one conclusion that is arrived at, considering his actions and that of his government. The president surrendered the high ground when collective bargaining in spirit and letter was unilaterally abandoned. The president yielded constitutional and legal grounds, when he first walked all over, and then contemptuously kicked aside, collective bargaining agreements, whenever such should have had the determining hand. Since I have traveled far, there is confidence that Guyana’s president has lost the public relations battle when he vanquished collective bargaining to the backyard of his interests, his priorities, and his considerations.
By way of a gentle reminder, the president should be aware (or his advisers should ensure that he reaches that state) that when he swore to his oath of office, as administered in Guyana, it was to preserve and protect, and uphold the laws of Guyana. Every single one of them, and not only those that find favor with him, those that he picks and chooses. Somewhere in there, I think that collective bargaining agreements feature most prominently. Now, I hand this over to the president of Guyana.
