Union, ministry to sign talks agreement Monday
By Miranda La Rose
An end to the teachers strike may be possible early next week, if the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) and the Ministry of Education sign an agreement on Monday, which could lead to conciliation talks by Thursday. The countrywide teachers strike called by the GTU on Wednesday to press demands for increased salaries and the resolution of related issues, yesterday affected a number of schools in and outside the city. The majority of city schools remained closed by the strike action. However, the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) exams were not affected by the strike. GTU President Bertram Hamilton has said that the union is eager to have the matter resolved because international donor agencies funding education development projects may feel that the results of these projects may be jeopardised. Yesterday, representatives of the GTU and the ministry met under the aegis of Chief Labour Officer, Mohamed Akeel, at the Labour Ministry on Homestretch Avenue. The parties are to meet on Monday to sign an agreement prepared by the Labour Ministry for resumption of talks on Thursday. Neither Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Hydar Ally, nor Akeel could be contacted yesterday for comment on this development. However, Stabroek News was reliably informed that the ministry is not prepared to continue negotiations unless the strike is called off. At a press conference yesterday at the GTU hall on Woolford Avenue, Hamilton said that the strike will only be called off if in the agreement for resumption of talks, the union is satisfied that it is engaged in a process with decision makers and not "messengers." He said that "unless we could be guaranteed that kind of bargaining process, we are not going to the bargaining table." While expressing an eagerness to have the matter resolved in the interest of both teachers and children, Hamilton said that the GTU is "not prepared to be pulled in to tricks where the issues are dragged out until the close of school when the teachers are away then the negative pronouncements are made." As such, he said, the union has decided to tie down the discussions to "expedient time tables." He added that even before the start of end-of-term examinations, teachers must know what their salaries are. He said that the union will settle for compromises if it gets a clear indication of what the "position is". He said that the ministry cannot say there is $10 when there are other things pointing to $20. If the country has an economic problem, the whole country should be affected and not only some people. He said that when Trinidad and Tobago was going through economic problems there were salary cuts for every employee from the top, including ministers, to the bottom. He argued that the Ministry of Finance has on record that it is paying 13,000 teachers, when on the union's records there are 9,000. The money left back from that budgeted to pay the 13,000 could go towards improving the salaries of the 9,000. Salaries, Hamilton stressed is a priority issue because it involves every teacher in Guyana. In terms of working conditions, except for class sizes, every category of teacher will not benefit. The GTU, he said, is prepared to carry the negotiations to the furthest and is even prepared for arbitration "tomorrow". He said that the agreement which is expected to be signed on Monday must provide for no victimisation of teachers, no loss of service and the status quo must be as it was before the strike started. Any shred of evidence that points to victimisation, he said, will be taken seriously and the union will make it a big issue. Those teachers who have opted not to strike are saying by their actions that they are satisfied with their salaries and "if they are satisfied then the union is misinformed," he said. Commenting on Education Minister, Dr Dale Bisnauth's announcement that the strike is illegal, Hamilton said that he has never heard any government say that a "strike is legal." The teachers have a right to strike because they have legitimate concerns, he said. Meanwhile, Hamilton said that the union has begun to alert its international affiliates, including Education International and Caribbean teachers' unions about the local teachers' plight. Appealing to those agencies which have ploughed funds into educational development in the country, Hamilton said that as long as teachers are not satisfied all the millions of dollars that they are pumping into the projects will amount to nothing because the principal actors in the projects, the teachers, are not satisfied. The funding agencies, he said, need to know that the whole concept of the maintenance of skills in the education system is at risk because of the ministry's inability to retain and attract suitably skilled and qualified persons to sustain these projects. It has always been listed as a high risk factor but it has been thrown higher by the ministry's attitude to teachers' welfare, he said. Meanwhile, schools at Linden remained closed and teachers at Bartica said that schools there were either closed or held no classes because the majority of the teachers were off the job. On the East Coast Demerara yesterday, the headteacher at Annandale Secondary said that more than half of the teachers were on the job and about half the student population was in attendance. On Wednesday all the students and the majority of teachers had gone to school. The schools in neighbouring Buxton were either closed or had no children. At LBI Primary, the majority of teachers were on the job teaching a reasonable number of children but the primary and community high schools in Beterverwagting were closed. At Montrose Primary the majority of teachers were at their posts teaching those who had attended, but at Plaisance teaching was ineffective even though a handful of children showed up. President's College sent home students, except for those writing CXC and GCE examinations because the teachers had opted for strike action. Region Three (West Demerara/Essequibo Islands) Education Officer, Youman Singh, told Stabroek News that 80 per cent of the teachers were on the job and with the exception of Patentia Primary, Patentia Nursery, Nismes and Bagotstown all the schools in the region were open. However, children's attendance at most schools had dropped. In Region Two (Pomeroon/Supenaam) the strike had spread and the Education Officer there, Constance Trim, noted that three teachers had attempted to leave their keys at the Education Department at Anna Regina but she advised them against them doing so for the security of the buildings among other things. School attendance dropped and in addition to the one school which was closed yesterday, Sparta Primary, Richmond Primary and Maria's Lodge were also closed. She noted that the headmaster of the Anna Regina Primary School received two threatening phone calls. He was advised to report the matter to the Anna Regina Police Station. Meanwhile, at Berbice, Stabroek News correspondent, Daniel Da Costa, reported that 75 per cent of the schools in New Amsterdam were affected with the New Amsterdam Multilateral and St Therese's closed. However, the schools in the Lower Corentyne area were still operational. 
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