Dear Editor,
With respect to the upcoming elections of the Guyana Teachers Union, it is mind boggling for us teachers that the present executive would want to seek re-election to office after having failed us over the years.
What have been the achievements of this union for the last period? Absolutely nothing; they have no record to boast about. We can list their failures:
1) The union has failed to deliver any substantial increase for teachers over the last period.
2) The union has failed to deliver the debunching of monies promised to teachers since 2010.
3) The union has taken the Teaching Service Commission to court over teachers’ promotions for 2015; thus they have prevented teachers from being promoted, having a higher salary, living their dreams, and being able to perform as managers. This happens to be a very unpopular position as most of the country’s teachers see this as an act which has stalled their careers, and that by the time this action is finished some teachers will have retired and will lose years of being seniors. In actual fact this has caused a lot of teachers to lose focus and become less motivated.
4) The union court action cannot be justified as their original position was a review of about 30 cases. When the Teaching Service Commis-sion agreed to this the union asked for a 100 per cent review, and now they are calling for the removal of the Teaching Service Commissioners. It’s evident here that they are shifting the goalpost, while teachers are being punished as promotions for 2016 are uncertain.
5) The union continues to negotiate long-term agreements which are in no way beneficial to teachers. These agreements lack any substance and have never given anything to teachers worth talking about.
6) The President said in 2015 that teachers will be paid to mark School Based Assessments. It’s 2016 and this has not materialized. It shows how weak the union’s negotiating skills are since we are still marking School Based Assessments without remuneration.
7) The next big issue has been the union’s failure to have its accounts audited and also its failure to be accountable to the nation’s teachers. After all, it’s our money that is being spent and there has been no audit in the last decade.
8) The collapse of the revolving housing loan and the long delay in issuing duty free letters adds to the list of failures.
It is evident that our bargaining skills need to be strengthened, and thus we need a change of leadership in our union. Just as our country has had a change in government we the teachers need a new union executive for us to experience the better life promised by the new government.
Yours faithfully,
Twahir Baksh
