By Alexis Rodney

THE Guyana Teacher’s Union (GTU) could call out the more than 7,000 public school teachers it represents as early as next week for industrial action, if government numerous issues facing educators are not addressed.
At least that is the plan as laid out by Union President Mark Lyte, who said on Thursday, that the body has exhausted every other option.
The plan is in place, although Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, said that he had that very day informed GTU General Secretary, Coretta McDonald, that the Ministry of Education will soon meet with the union to iron out the issues.
But McDonald, at a press conference at the organisation’s Woolford Avenue office, said that the union and teachers have for far too long been disrespected and taken for granted by government.

In fact, she said many of the proposals and plans presented to government have been sitting on the sidelines for years.
“This is against the backdrop that the regular submission of issues to government continues to fall on deaf ears. We are referring to the debunching payments, outstanding since 2006, the $40 million housing project where nothing has happened since 2006, and more recently, the salary proposal presented to the Ministry of Education,” McDonald told reporters.

“These issues are of concern to us. We have been talking with our counterparts, but it seems as if some of those have gone on deaf ears,” she said.
Union President Mark Lyte was resolute that the union will not sit back and allow “this kind of behaviour to prevail and have our teachers affected by not increasing their salaries”.
He claimed that information circulating that government will be offering public servants increases in salary, has not reached the GTU.
“We are saying that this is not good for collective bargaining. The GTU has decided that we have had enough, we have given the administration enough time, we have had enough discussions and we see no progress when it comes to an agreement between the union and the Ministry of Education.”
To this end, he said the GTU demands a swift response, failing which it will call teachers out of the classroom.

ENOUGH
“We feel we have no other alternative and we feel as though we have been taken for granted. We will be calling our teachers out to protest,” he informed.
Lyte said although government has been vocal about the importance of collective bargaining, the GTU has not seen anything of the sorts being manifested over the last two years.
And even as the year draws closer to an end, teachers have not yet received an increase in salary.

He claimed that there is a deliberate effort on the part of Government not to address the proposal which was presented to the Ministry of Education since December 2015.
“Another budget will be presented and we are not able as yet to come to an agreement for a proposal for the teachers of this nation. We believe that this is very disrespectful and is in direct contravention of the labour agreement that we should have between the government and the union for teachers. It is clear that government has no intention of remunerating teachers.”

Minister of State Joseph Harmon said the issue is an ongoing exercise. According to him, the last agreement teachers had with government was a multi-year agreement.
“Several issues that have to be streamlined are under that agreement. It is a good approach to salary and wages…. But those negotiations take a little longer than usual,” Harmon said, promising that there is no sidelining of the teachers or the GTU.
Lyte also addressed a recent memorandum sent out by the Chief Education Officer (CEO) Marcel Hutson; directing that teachers supervise students during their respective lunch breaks.

Lyte said because the instruction is incorporated in a memo, schools are now asking teachers to supervise students through a rostar system.
He said this new request is in contravention of the labour laws which requires that all workers must have breaks, whether it is coffee, tea or lunch in particular.
The GTU president said the breaks are there to allow teachers to be rejuvenated and make way for them to resume teaching.
“We have found that the International Labour Organisation (ILO) declaration specifically talks about three principle rights of all categories of workers,” he said.