There is indeed a real urgency to reach a satisfactory Teacher-union versus Government administration wages and salaries plus benefit package adjustments for teachers, some of whom are parents. Parents’ empowerment must also be considered additionally because of their special role in raising their children who will form part of the Guyana labour force.
There are three aspects that need to be covered in the current Union – Adminis-tration negotiation.
1. Wages and salaries adjustment covering the risk factors arising from the workings of the economy, including what Mike Persaud alluded to in SN 2024-02-21, Food Security (special long-term home-grown production for which farm-lands are required).
2. Long-term empowerment benefits for raising a family – future labour supply (children day-care costs could be factored in, if these are not covered in the current Government Budget, 2024, transportation allowances, etc.).
3. Occupational necessities that are special to a teacher’s job, for which a teacher must provide out-of-pocket costs to get their jobs done.
Mr. Persaud’s estimate (SN 2024-02-21) of 30% over three years is conservative on the low side, considering that the various risk factors – the prices of items in the cost of living index are not constant, each month. A good gauge of inflation risk coverage would require going outside the Statistical Bureau, whose job is to use current market prices to reflect a realistic inflation rate based on the total purchase cost of a specified bundle of current-period commodities valued at “current” prices, rather than old historic prices, in the Guyana’s super growth economy measuring above 30 percent.
Guyana’s risk-free interest rate is 1.54% as of June 2023. The long-term mortgage rate is 10%. The difference, 8.5% would reflect an estimate of inflation risk, the first part that unions should aim to cover in a wage settlement.
The second part of the union contract should give a lift in wages beyond mere inflation so that individuals may generate Household or individual savings to ‘mind’ family and transport themselves to the workplace, cellular and internet costs, fuel costs less fuel subsidies in the Minister’s 2024 Budget, higher asset prices giving rise to cost of services from long-lived assets – house, car, and land, these all need a one-time adjustment proportional to the national average (a percentage of the benefit package of top-tier public servants).
The inflation cost adjustment could be negotiated as 8½% plus a small 6% for current cost increase; (food prices only well above that): 14% for the first year, 16% for years 2 and 18% for year 3, giving 48%. A year one 50% increase to cover inflation plus a lift to cover non-food items could end the current strike. Could the new oil Guyana afford to pay school teachers more?
To the inflation adjustments on wages and salaries (14,16, 18 percent plus an across the board lift in year one to cover long term services costs from houses and transportation vehicles) should be added those thorny items of occupational hazards items, such teacher’s supplies, location and special allowances for teachers. Year one is special, since Guyana has added extra demand from the new oil industry grafted on to the non-oil economy and lifted the operating costs of ‘all boats and hands on deck’; indeed higher income demands as reflected in the World Bank’s reclassification of Guyana as a high income country, with gross domestic product per capita as US$18,199.50 in 2022, (see, https://data.worldbank.org/ country/guyana )
Family allowances appear to be handled by the Government 2024 Budget to achieve broad based societal objectives.
The total teachers’ package could very well be the benchmark 50 percent over 3 years. This would be a good gesture for teacher retention also.
Sincerely,
Article Originally Published At: https://www.stabroeknews.com/2024/02/22/opinion/letters/three-aspects-should-be-covered-in-talks-between-teachers-union-and-govt/
