Dear Editor,
By a quirk from pre-Independence days, the accounts of trade unions are audited by the Auditor General of Guyana, although the Constitution makes the Auditor General the auditor of the country’s public accounts. The record of audits of trade unions has not been good. For example, the AG’s report for 2018 and 2019, disclosed that only the audits of GAWU for 2017 and 2018 were completed. In 2020, it was GAWU for 2019 and the Guyana Labour Union (GLU) for 2012 and 2013. In 2021, the audits of GAWU for 2020 and GLU audits for years 2014 and 2015 were completed. The year 2022 saw the completion of the audits of the Postal and Telegraph Union for 2004 to 2008, and for the GPSU for the two years 2006 and 2007. That’s about a dozen audits for five years. This is out of a few hundred for the five years. The Act requires the Auditor General to audit the books of the Unions within fourteen days of receipt.
There is no reference in the Reports of the Auditor General up to 2022 to suggest that financial statements of NAACIE were audited in the past five years. NAACIE is the union with which the Chairman of the Trade Union Recognition and Certification Board has been long associated. The other unionists on the Board are Seepaul Narine and Dawchan Nagasar of GAWU, and Carvil Duncan of the GLU, which along with NAACIE are sponsors and members of the PPP/C aligned FITUG. The TUC is completely excluded from the Board, a form of derecognition by the Government! Except for GAWU then, trade unions across the board have been delinquent about their audits and therefore their accountability. Yet, the Government has chosen to lead a campaign against the Guyana Teachers Union, not for a breach of the Trade Union Act but for daring to exercise its constitutional right to strike. But here are some ironies.
The people who are trying to embarrass the teachers are serial violators when it comes to accounting and accountability. To the best of my knowledge, the PPP/C in its decades long history, has never presented a full account of its annual financial operations to its members. More dangerously for the country’s delicate democracy, both the PPP/C and the PNC – R have never, ever submitted the statement of election expenses required by the Representation of the People Act. That sadly is their concept – or contempt – of accountability and the rule of law. That disdain is not only bad per se, but opens for all forms of unlawful activities, including money laundering, tax evasion, smuggling etc. Meanwhile, the Government has announced that striking workers will not be paid, while the President continues to avoid the single step that could immediately bring the teachers back to the classroom and the union leadership to the negotiating table – free collective bargaining. This is provided for in the Constitution which the President and all his Ministers have sworn to “honour, uphold and preserve”.
With all its intellect, information and negotiating power, the Govern-ment seems afraid to engage its own people. The people are left to choose whether this is arrogance, a denial of constitutional rule or cowardice. Instead of doing his constitutional duty, President Ali asks teachers accusingly to “have a conscience”, as if striking for better pay and conditions is unconscionable. His refusal to have his government negotiators meet the teachers’ representatives is a sign that for him, the Constitution is either a piece of paper which he can choose to observe, or not to observe. That is not how democrats behave. And let us not forget. The Government is freely spending billions on poorly thought-out adventures, while the nation’s teachers are told to have a conscience. He must know how much it costs the country when a teacher decides to quit her job or worse, quit the country. Don’t drive the teachers from the classroom.
Sincerely,
Christopher Ram
