– symptomatic of Administration’s concern for workers
The Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG) and we are sure all right-thinking Guyanese were sorely disappointed and upset to learn that Junior Social Protection Minister, Keith Scott, according to the September 02, 2018 Stabroek News, labelled striking teachers as “selfish and uncaring”. This most astonishing statement by the Minister, who incidentally is responsible for the Department of Labour, is a clear demonstration of the Administration’s concern for the workers plight and troubles that have beset them in the era of the ‘Good Life’ Coalition. The statement by the Minister, in our view, further unmasks the APNU+AFC Government and it reveals its true colours.
striking teachers as uncaring and selfish
The Minister, the Stabroek News reported, said “…we can’t discard our care of them [the children]because we want a lil money…”. It is simply unbelievable that a Minister of Government, a leader of our country, would resort to making such inconsiderate statements. The FITUG contends that our nation’s teachers have more than been considerate and sought, at all possible opportunities, to rationally settle their concerns with the Government. For their best efforts they have been strung along with promise after promise remaining unfulfilled. Certainly, the efforts of the teachers and their Union must have, among other things, been related to their concern for our nation’s children. Of course the onerous situation could continue for so long and now the time has reached when the straw has broken the proverbial camel’s overburdened back.
The teachers demand for improvements in their pay and conditions of work is not without justification. FITUG, as it pointed out on several occasions, is of the strong view that our nation’s workers are more than deserving of improvements in their rates-of-pay recognizing the hard and difficult times they have found themselves in. The Federation could not fail to recognise that another report in the September 02 Stabroek News parents lamented the high cost of items to send their children back to school. That report also saw several vendors complaining about the poor business undoubtedly having its origins in difficulties our people are having in making ends meet.
In our view, no credible justification can be advanced for the Minister’s statements. It is completely uncalled for and should have never been uttered in the first place. Moreover coming from the Minister responsible for labour in our country, serves to undermine the confidence the workers would repose in his leadership and casts a dark shadow on his impartiality of the Department he leads. The FITUG urges that the Minister should immediately apologise for what could only be described as a despicable statement. We also believe that His Excellency President David Granger should give serious consideration and profound thought as to whether Minister Scott is best suited to be the political head of the Department of Labour. This is not the first controversial statement attributed to the Minister. We wish to remind the Government, once bitten twice shy.
