The Ministry of Education is reviewing its agreement with the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) to automatically deduct union dues given the union’s behaviour in the current industrial action, Education Minister, Dr Henry Jeffrey said yesterday.
He added that the ministry had other options open to it but did not elaborate.
Meanwhile the teachers’ strike for increased salaries for 2002 has entered its sixth day over a three-week period effectively shutting down schools countrywide.
At a press briefing, Jeffrey said that since the GTU had begun its strike action on March 5, the ministry, “while forcefully explaining its position, has exercised great restraint in the face of obvious provocation.”
He said this position was taken “in recognition of the fact that an embittered relationship will not be in the best interest of the nation’s children.” He said the ministry approach might have led the union to conclude that the ministry neither had the resolve nor the means to respond.
Jeffrey repeated his position that teachers had been paid for 2002 and that the collective labour agreement with the GTU did not oblige the parties to go to arbitration.
He said the union had a right to strike in pursuance of its claims, but even in conflict a sense of balance should be maintained and the GTU “has overstepped the mark.” This was evident, he said, in the withdrawal from the annual track and field competition, “in a manner most hurtful to the children” some of whom had already travelled and some were preparing to travel from hinterland regions as others finalised their preparations for the event. In addition, he said that the GTU had been “less than forthcoming in co-operating with those children preparing for the Secondary Schools Entrance Examinations (SSEE) and the Caribbean Examinations Council exams.
He condemned what he said were unfavourable remarks made by GTU President Sydney Murdock about what teachers’ attitudes to children writing examinations should be like at a union membership meeting held at St Stanislaus on Friday.
Chief Education Officer Ed Caesar, in a report to the ministry yesterday morning noted that the attendance of teachers and children at examination classes had not been good.
A number of children from various city schools preparing for CXC examinations told Stabroek News that they had been going to school regularly and some teachers would set them work or check their work and then leave. With the exception of two city primary schools, this newspaper could not confirm whether other primary schools had been conducting classes for SSEE.
Asked whether the ministry had been contemplating putting off the SSEE, Permanent Secretary, Hydar Ally said that so far the examinations were on stream for the dates planned.
Stating that the ministry would not allow itself to be held ransom by sectional interests, Jeffrey said teachers had no greater call on the national budget than any other group in society.
Meanwhile at a press briefing on Monday at the GTU Hall, Murdock reiterated that the union had had no part to play in the salary increases which he deemed to be an “imposition.”
He said that if nothing was brokered between the union and the ministry this week, the strike which continued yesterday and today will continue into next week.
If necessary, he said, “it will be intensified.” He did not say how it would be intensified but noted that the feedback from teachers was that they were keen on shutting down the entire education system.
On the issue of payment of salaries for the month of March, Murdock said that the schools in Region Four (Demerara/Mahaica) had received information that pay sheets were available but when schools administrators turned up for their pay sheets, they were told they were being withheld. Stabroek News was unable to confirm this development.
GTU Administrator Lance Baptiste said that once the salaries were withheld, teachers would not be obligated “to catch up” on work which they had missed teaching with their charges. He said that head teachers were putting systems in place to make up for lost time and all the ministry needed to do was to be reasonable.
Asked about guarantees of teachers returning to the system once the strike period was over, Murdock said “we will definitely lose teachers” as any pasture at present was greener than Guyana’s. He said he had confirmed reports that some Guyanese teachers were now heading for Haiti.
Noting that last Friday’s meeting facilitated by Akeel was cordial but no agreement was brokered, Murdock was still optimistic about moving to arbitration.
However, when contacted, Akeel told Stabroek News that the labour law would only impose arbitration on both parties if it deemed the national interest was threatened.
He said that arbitration was imposed on the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GUYSUCO) and the Guyana Agricultural and Allied Workers Union (GAWU) because of the threats posed to the country’s economy by GAWU’s actions.
He also recalled the Minister of Labour imposing arbitration on one of the University of Guyana’s bargaining agents and the Ministry of Education but the court ruled against the minister’s imposition. (Miranda La Rose)