The Alliance For Change (AFC) has registered its deep concern regarding the ongoing impasse in the arbitration talks between the Government of Guyana and the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU). So said AFC Chair and Member of Parliament (MP) Cathy Hughes. The AFC in a statement said Justice Sandil Kissoon’s order of 4th March mandated arbitration to resolve issues stemming from the recent strike, yet the Government is unable to reach a mutually acceptable settlement.
Last Tuesday, March 12, 2024, Government walked away from the meeting with the GTU, accusing the union of not wanting to engage in collective bargaining. The Union denied the allegation and had since returned to the Court seeking an order to have government address the issue of 2019-2023 Proposal on Wages/Salary and Working Conditions.
Blasting the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Government for walking away from the court-ordered agreement, the AFC said it seems this government thinks it is above the law and will look for any loophole to get its way without genuinely considering the plight of the people while some sport Louis Vuitton bags. Minister of Education Priya Manickchand’s Louis Vuitton bag was used during the teachers 29 days strike as a symbol of the disparity in wealth between teachers and ministers of government.
Reacting to government’s refusal to consider the years 2019 to 2023 in the settlement, citing COVID-19 as justification, the AFC Chair deemed it “utter nonsense.” Firstly, COVID did not become a major health crisis issue until early 2020, the Chair noted, and more so this stance is deeply flawed because it overlooks the tireless efforts of our educators during the pandemic. Manickchand’s view in 2024 contradicts her 2020 view which was loud in praise for teachers’ sacrifice during the pandemic to sustain a learning environment possible for Guyana’s children.
Hughes pointed out despite unprecedented challenges, Guyana’s public school teachers exhibited remarkable resilience, adapting and innovating to ensure that learning continued. “To dismiss their efforts and deny them fair compensation based on this pretext is not only unjust but fundamentally undermines the principles of fairness and equity.”
Furthermore, is this government suggesting that cost of living did not increase during this period or is it so myopic and detached from reality, that it cannot come to terms with the fact that in order for our teachers to continue to serve their salaries have to be adjusted as costs go up, the MP queried. Pointing out that inflation spares no one, Hughes emphasized our teachers, like all citizens, felt its impact acutely.
According to a 2022 World Bank Report approximately half the society lives on less than $1200 (US$5.50) a day. Within the last two years prices for basic food items have more than doubled. On the other hand, Guyana’s economy has moved by leaps and bounds, and is ranked the world’s fastest growing. In 2023 Guyana received US$ 1.165 billion from oil and gas and is this year projected to earn US $2.8 Billion. The 2024 $1.146 Trillion Budget is the biggest in the nation’s history, but Government continues to gripe that it cannot afford to pay teachers.
Addressing Guyana’s wealth and Government’s ability to pay, Hughes noted that to suggest the budget cannot accommodate the retroactive payments when the government last week withdrew some US$250 million from the Natural Resource Fund, without adequate accountability, is not only a gross betrayal of trust but highlights the lack of concern this government continues to display towards its citizens whom it claims to care about – but actions speak louder than words.
Considering that only a few days ago both the President and Vice President used the celebration of Cheddi Jagan’s life as a de facto political rally one would have thought that they would be more committed to his philosophy of labour being the essential driver of our developmental thrust.
In not valuing the labour of our teachers this government is going against the very tenets on which the PPP was built – a slap in the face of that party’s greatest leader.
Calling for the cessation to the bully tactics the AFC wants Government to engage sincerely with the teachers, noting the current salary scale is woefully inadequate for those who shape the minds and futures of our youth. To this end the MP declared, “it is time for action, not empty rhetoric.”
The party said it trusts government will remember its duty to the people of Guyana, honour its commitments and prioritise the welfare of those who dedicate their lives to our children’s education. “Their actions to date are telling and every right-thinking Guyanese will have no doubt as to what we need to do come next election.”
