Existence of a binding collective bargaining agreement is at the crux of the teachers strike
The Labour Act of Guyana Chapter 98:01, Sections 30, 31, and 32, identifies the mechanism of “collective agreements”, provides guidance to the parties to such agreements, and emphasizes the “binding enforceability” of such agreements. The Trade Union Recognition Act Chapter 98:07, Section 18 et seq lay out the procedures for recognition of bargaining units. The Constitution of Guyana, Section 149B refers to “pension and gratuity” and those being an “absolute and enforceable right” with “collective agreement” being pinpointed as one of the governing provisions. There could be the prudent interpretation that since pension and gratuity are determined by the level of wages and salaries, then there is a place for the latter under the constitution of Guyana. Of note is that there is no dispute about the Guyana Teachers’ Union as the recognized bargaining agent of striking teachers, and there are no differences over the existence of a binding collective bargaining agreement.
This is the crux of the matter that now rages, and involves teachers in Guyana’s public school system, and the Guyana Government. The simple fact is that the existing collective bargaining agreement has been manhandled, manipulated, and mangled by the PPP Government, and not for the first time. It is safe to say that such manhandling and mangling have become both modus operandi, and modus vivendi of the PPP Government. It was first with public service workers in general, and now with teachers in the present boiling strike milieu. The Ministry of Education can cut the pay of absent teachers, but the fact remains that there have been continuing breaches of a valid collective bargaining agreement with the teachers’ agents. The Ministry of Labour can clamber aboard the hobbyhorse christened “illegal”, but it is as plain about who is engaged in illegal practices, and who isn’t. Moreover, the red herrings of audited reports not filed (an inexcusable, utterly denounceable failure), but there is no denying that an operative collective bargaining agreement has been violated, and seemingly at will by this PPP Government.
I now shine the spotlight on Guyana’s president, and highlight his place in the strike picture. He belongs, but not for any of the reasons anticipated. Before the president, I humbly present this unwanted gift: that a 6.5% increase is still a departure from the binding precincts of the collective bargaining agreement. I daresay that even 16.5% or 26.5% would still have qualified as an intrusion into the collective bargaining agreement space, no matter how well intended. For clarity, that 6.5% could never be interpreted by reasonable men and women as being wellintended.
The president as the chief custodian of Guyana’s laws, and the chief tribune in their fair application, is duty bound to honour what those same laws have built-in provisions for, viz., collective bargaining. I respectfully exhort the president to do his part, and let this tumultuous matter be over and done with cleanly, satisfactorily, and forthrightly. There has been too much evasion of leadership responsibility. The president should descend from his horse, and deal with this issue in a less arrogant and more credible manner.
The president surrendered the high ground when collective bargaining in spirit and letter was unilaterally abandoned. The president yielded constitutional and legal grounds, when he first walked all over, and then contemptuously kicked aside, collective bargaining agreements. Since I have traveled far, there is confidence that Guyana’s president has lost the public relations battle when he vanquished collective bargaining to the backyard of his interests, priorities, and considerations.
To remind gently, the president should be aware that when he swore his oath of office, it was to preserve and protect, and uphold the laws of Guyana. Every single one of them, and not only those that find favour with him. Somewhere in there, I think that collective bargaining agreements feature most prominently. Now, I hand this over to Guyana’s headman.