PPP General Secretary, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, has called on teachers nationwide to reject the proposed strike by the Guyana Teacher’s Union (GTU) scheduled for Monday.
During his weekly press conference at Freedom House, Jagdeo labeled the proposed strike as ‘political.’
Jagdeo asserted that the strike initiative is driven by Coretta McDonald, who, prior to 2020, visited his office as the opposition leader to express concerns about being unable to secure a meeting with the APNU/AFC government.
He recalled McDonald’s complaints about the coalition government revoking teachers’ benefits, such as multi-year agreements, the housing revolving fund, and duty-free concessions granted by the PPP/C government.
Since returning to office, Jagdeo noted that the government has implemented various measures to benefit teachers, including elevating 4000 graduate teachers to the top of the salary scale, in addition to the 6.5% salary increase.
He emphasized that duty-free concessions have been expanded to include senior teachers and retirees who had not previously benefited.
However, he claimed that the union opposes these measures.
Jagdeo criticized McDonald’s proposal, suggesting that union executives should benefit from concessions instead of retired teachers.
He deemed these proposals as “obscene” and affirmed the government’s commitment to engaging with teachers and implementing policies to improve working conditions and increase remuneration.
The government’s stance is in contrast to the GTU’s demands, and the situation remains tense as the call for strike action looms.
Further developments will be monitored as the situation unfolds.