APNU+AFC, WPA support teachers’ strike

Last Updated on Tuesday, 6 February 2024, 15:58 by Denis Chabrol

The People’s National Congress Reform-led parliamentary coalition of A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) as well as the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) on Tuesday came out in solidarity with striking teachers after the Ministry of Education decided to stop deducting union dues from teachers’ salaries because of the union’s conduct.

APNU+AFC said it stands firmly with teachers in their struggle to pressure government to meet their legitimate demands. Ahead of the 2025 general and regional elections, the coalition promised that if elected to office, it would bargain with the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU). The coalition also it would ensure that teachers receive a fair share of Guyana’s earnings from the oil sector.

“As we prepare for the upcoming elections, we want to assure teachers that upon assuming office, we will prioritize their needs and ensure that the oil wealth reaches all Guyanese, including teachers. We are committed to restoring what was taken away from them. We see the
improvement of working conditions and well-being of teachers as one of our moral responsibilities,” APNU+AFC said.

The Ministry of Education on Monday night announced that it would be deducting monies from salaries of teachers who are now into the second day of a strike to force the government to go to the negotiating table for a multi-year agreement for salaries.

The parliamentary opposition coalition said it recognises the importance of collective bargaining and would respect the legitimate representation of teachers through the GTU. “It is unacceptable that the Ministry of Education has neglected the union’s concerns and attempts to undermine the duly- elected representatives of teachers,” the coalition said.

The WPA, for its part, accused government of using the allocation of funds from the National Treasury to discriminate against the largely Afro-Guyanese workers who dominate the public sector. “WPA charges the government with undisguised discrimination against a category of workers who do not belong to its political constituency. While the government exhibits the traits of an anti-worker regime, it is particularly harsh on workers who do not belong to its ethno-political base,” that party said.

The WPA, which left APNU after the coalition’s electoral defeat in 2020 due to deep-seated differences, blamed the Irfaan Ali-led People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC) administration of attempting to criminalise teachers who heeded the GTU’s call for industrial action to press for a living wage.

That party WPA called on the government to pay the teachers a just, living wage as it is the height of contradiction that a government can boast of exceedingly high economic growth and unveil a GY1.14 trillion dollars budget but refuses to pay public servants a decent and livable wage.  According to that party, no decent government which is concerned with the welfare of its citizens can justify the kind of wages teachers receive. “Offering the teachers increases in allowances rather than a raise of their wages is tantamount to willful pauperization. In normal times teachers’ wages are inadequate, but that inadequacy is exaggerated by the high cost of living,” the party added.

The government’s charge that the teachers’ strike is political is, according to the WPA “laughable” as all strikes are political. The WPA railed against the PPPC administration for accusing the GTU of partisan action because GTU General Secretary Coretta Mc Donald is an opposition APBU+AFC parliamentarian. The WPA rejected that stance, saying it was the height of hypocrisy since the top official of another union is a government parliamentarian. The President of the PPP-aligned Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union, Seepaul Narine is a ruliung party parliamentarian.

” WPA condemns the personal attacks on Sister Coretta McDonald. All right-thinking Guyanese must rally in defense and protection of Ms. McDonald. These cowardly attacks are consistent with the current government’s attitude to women.

The WPA denounced the government’s stance that the teachers’ strike is unlawful, saying that it amounted to a dangerous development in which the administration has now arrogated unto itself the roles of accuser, prosecutor, judge and jury. “This is nothing short of naked autocracy. The subsequent decisions to withhold the wages of striking workers and to discontinue deducting union dues are well known acts of dictatorships. These shameful acts by the government have returned Guyana to the bowels of authoritarian rule.

The WPA said government should take the pay dispute to arbitration and desist from propaganda.