By Abigail Headley
As their union’s strike enters the fourth day today, teachers yesterday kept up the pressure on the government for collective bargaining.
Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) General Secretary Coretta McDonald yesterday told this newspaper that the third day of the strike has seen significant improvement as more teachers ventured out in support. The reason for this, she noted, is because teachers are angry at the Ministry of Education (MoE)’s decision to cease union dues deductions from teachers’ salaries.
“The actions of the government yesterday [Tuesday], it has angered teachers. And so, teachers who weren’t on the industrial action yesterday, or the day before they turned out today because they recognize exactly what the government is trying to do. They’re not only trying to dissolve the GTU, but they are they’re now going to (control) teachers. Because if you have the union, and they’re doing this to you, much less if you don’t have a union… teachers have recognized the importance of being unionized. And so, when the government decided to go that low, teachers got angry,” she told Stabroek News.
