–based on union’s vivid rules, Dr. Jagdeo says

AMIDST growing questions and criticisms over the credibility and integrity of the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU)’s leadership, a pertinent issue has arisen regarding the its General Secretary, Coretta McDonald, who might be holding her position in contravention of the GTU’s rule book, which is essentially the constitution of the union.

This was brought to light by the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) General Secretary Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo during a press conference at Freedom House on Thursday. The PPP General Secretary used GTU’s rule book to point out the major breach.

The Union’s rules state: “Any person holding a Teachers Certificate acceptable to the Executive Council but who is not eligible for active membership, may become an associate member of the union by making application therefor to the Executive Council.”

Further, Clause C, Section II of the rules outline: “Associate members shall have the right to vote, but shall not be eligible to hold the office of the President or General Secretary… [this includes] teachers who leave the classroom to serve as Members of Parliament.”

Notably, McDonald was sworn in as an A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Parliamentarian in 2020, and, using the union’s rule book, her stint as General Secretary of the GTU should have ended.

The rule book reads: “The annual conference may confer honorary associate membership without the levy of fees on any person who applies therefor and falls in any of the following categories:-… teachers who leave the classroom to serve as Members of Parliament; such membership to expire at the end of the individual’s term of office as a Member of Parliament.”
While speaking more on McDonald’s position within the union for over a decade, Dr. Jagdeo said: “Now McDonald is paid as a teacher. She herself said publicly,” while underscoring the clause: “She is a teacher who has left the classroom and served as a Member of Parliament.”

He then went on to remark: “So this is a very interesting turn of affairs… Maybe we should read the rule book a bit more.”

Recently, GTU’s heavyweights have been struggling to defend its integrity, and this revelation further begs the question as to how the union is being managed.

Also, it was reported that approximately $2 billion collected from teachers by the GTU is unaccounted for, according to the Auditor General’s Office.

Last Friday, the Auditor General’s Office issued a statement, saying: “The last Financial Statement submitted by the Guyana Teachers Union to the Audit Office of Guyana for audit was 1989.”
Notably, the Deeds and Commercial Registries Authority also issued a statement, which revealed that the GTU last filed its financial returns 20 years ago.

According to a brief statement from the registry, it received queries from the media about the audited financial statements of the GTU, and upon examining the records, it found that “Annual Returns required by Section 35 of the Trade Unions Act, Cap. 98:03 to be filed annually by registered trade unions was last filed by the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) for the Year ending 31st of December, 2004 on the 31st of March, 2005.”

Under this Act, unions are required to submit a “general statement of the receipts, funds, effects, and expenditure to the Registrar before the 1st May in every year, and shall show fully its assets and liabilities at the date…”

The Act states that every trade union which “fails to comply with or acts in contravention of this section, and also every officer of the union so failing, shall each be liable, on summary conviction, to a fine of seventy-five dollars for each offence.”

Union dues are automatically deducted from the salaries of the teachers and handed over to the GTU. But the government recently said it will stop doing so, and has cited the lack of accountability by the union.