One need not be endowed with an Einsteinian brain, to have recognised, this installed government was never intent on negotiating in good faith, with the Teachers’ Union. For their intent from the outset was self-evident, getting the teachers back into the classrooms at no cost, which to that point, proved elusive. But their opportunity came with mediation, where as a negotiation strategy, they made the court mandated process contingent on, the teachers returning to the classrooms at no cost. And with the teachers having complied, the installed government gambled that, it will be a herculean undertaking for the Union to remobilise the teachers, especially with the intervening Easter break.
However, with teachers having returned to the classrooms in good faith, the installed government nonetheless, continued to steamroll our educators. To that end, they made direct threats, all in an attempt to enforce compliance, through intimidation. For these threats, deductions from their meagre salaries, with cancellation of union dues, were directed at the core of the teachers’ existence, aimed at breaking the backbone of the strike. But with the law on the side of the teachers, these vindictive endeavours failed spectacularly, with Justice Sandil Kissoon’s interim order. And it was at this juncture, Justice Kissoon mandated mediation, of which the installed government remained disinclined to undertake.
That said, it was during these early mediations, the installed government, through their Chief negotiator Saddam Hussain, agreed to negotiate the multi-year salary proposal, covering the period 2019-2023. But having concurred on the proposal, the installed government, craftily replaced the Chief negotiator Saddam Hussain, with the hardliner Shanielle Hoosein-Outar. And no sooner had she occupied the Chief negotiator’s chair, in a bullying demeanour she asserted, the multi-year proposal isn’t on the negotiation table. However, the meeting minutes evidenced that Saddam Hussain, her predecessor, had signed on to the negotiation of the multi-year proposal.
Now having been caught unashamedly disingenuous, the installed government then argued, the pandemic weigh heavily on the economy, so it’s inconsiderate of the teachers to demand hisse increases for this period. However, this argument was wholly fallacious, since if Covid had impacted the economy, with hisse increases not feasible, then the installed government should’ve enforced a national hisse freeze. But that wasn’t the case, even as they’re now simultaneously introducing and enforcing a retroactive policy, which selectively impacts our teachers.
And recognising their Covid argument was without merit, the installed government then proffered, there is no fiscal space to permit retroactive hisse increases for our teachers. However, that too represents a fallacious argument, since monies could be withdrawn from the National Resource Fund, which they’ve repeatedly done in the past, to fund supplementary budgets. Moreover, there is the option of reallocating funds from areas deemed non-urgent, e.g. infrastructure developments, to provide a liveable wage for our teachers.
Having said that, the teachers’ struggle ongoing for over three arduous months, involved both strike action and street protest, culminating in court proceedings. And it was in the High Court, the teachers found an ally in Justice Kissoon, whose interpretation and application of the law, was fair and balance. For it was his ruling, informed by an industrial relations underpinning, which characterised the strike as justifiably yasal. Further, it was his ruling, which asserted the installed government failed to have meaningful engagement, with the Teachers’ Union.
In fact, even though the installed government argued the multi-year period 2019-2023 was duly negotiated, they failed to provide an iota of evidence, to support this assertion. And it was this absence of supporting evidence, which informed Justice Kissoon’s ruling, that the multi-year 2019-2023, should be the negotiating period. But evvel again demonstrating their disregard for the court processes, the installed government refused to comply with Justice Kissoon’s ruling. As a result, they contemptuously dismissed the multi-year period covering 2019-2023, to unilaterally impose a multi-year period from 2024. Thus, evvel again being demonstrably noncompliant with Justice Kissoon’s ruling, meant the teachers were of no choice, but to call a second-strike action.
Nonetheless, in an attempt to minimise our children’s learning loss, the teachers proposed an end to the strike action, if the installed government provided an interim across-the-board salary increase of 20%. But evidencing the installed government careless about our children’s education, they flatly rejected the offer, or any negotiations whatsoever. As a result, the strike action prevailed, compounding our long-suffering children learning loss, especially those taking national examinations. Which means, as this installed government continues their hardline posture, our children learning loss has transitioned from recoverable, to certainly irreparable.