By A TEACHER
As teachers we must never forget how we stood on the side of Dr Ralph E. Gonsalves in 2000 and stood shoulder to shoulder even at what became known as “the road block revolution”. Some of you stood with him because of your political beliefs, some teachers had extreme socialist leanings and even some were supporters of Marxism as promoted by the man who was called the Comrade, Ralph Gonsalves.
There were of course also many teachers who supported the NDP, but almost every one of us believed it was time for a change in government, many of us not realizing the style of government that Gonsalves would bring with him. No one ever thought for one moment with the ULP regime would come hate spite and malice. Teachers over the years have even come to fear Gonsalves, because to speak out or not to be a supporter of his style of regime could bring you loss of promotion, even loss of your job.
One of the promises of Gonsalves in 2001 was if we voted for him we would get what he told us was a deserved 30% immediate increase in our salaries. Of course we all know only too well that turned out to be a broken promise, even a downright lie to fool both the political and non-political sections of the teachers and every other worker in the country, gross deception.
In 2004 we were given a new contract of employment which was negotiated in good faith by our Union. Of course the Union were unaware that they would be cheated and put a lot of faith in the charm and charisma of Gonsalves. He signed as a witness to the signatures applied to that agreement. He then made it his agreement by telling us it was by far the best agreement that the teachers have ever had making sure we understood that had happened under his ULP regime, perhaps even that it contained his very influence.
Later it was discovered that parts of that agreement were unconstitutional and therefore unenforceable. When this was discovered Gonsalves told us he was aware at the time of signing that some clauses were unconstitutional and unenforceable. He also said that everyone who signed the contract was aware at the time of signing that certain clauses were only aspirational. So from being the best contract we had ever had it is now found to be an aspirational contract with clauses that are little more than trickery. To claim that every signatory was aware of clauses being unconstitutional and therefore unenforceable, if true must be a conspiracy to cheat the teachers. But I do not believe for a moment that our Union was aware of the unconstitutional aspect of the contract, those clauses in question were negotiated in good faith and the Union negotiators were taken advantage of. After all Gonsalves is a lawyer, I doubt that any contract in any ministry gets approved without his scrutiny and input; perhaps he was the actual draughtsman for those particular clauses.
Elvis Daniel, Addison Thomas, and Kenroy Johnson, who resigned from the Public Service in 2010 to contest the general elections on behalf of the opposition New Democratic Party. The three teachers and the union have argued that the collective bargaining agreement the union signed with the government should have allowed the teacher to return to the classroom. But the government said that the specific clause that the union cites was only “aspirational”, as it is unconstitutional.
In 2010, Otto Sam, an outspoken critic of the Unity Labour Party government, was transferred from his post as headmaster of the South Rivers Methodist School to the National Emergency Management Organization. He was later dismissed from the public service. In February 2014, Justice Gertel Thom ruled in favour of Otto Sam, saying the transfer was arbitrary and illegal. Still the government refused to give him back his job, instead they appealed the Courts decision. In September 2015 The Court of Appeal dismissed the government’s appeal of a High Court ruling that the transfer of career educator Otto Sam from the classroom to the National Emergency Management Organisation (NEMO) in 2010 was “irrational and illegal”. Was this a political vindictiveness, sure it was, just like that of Bigger Biggs, Marcus DeFreitus, and several others, why do I raise this in the teachers matter, because it goes towards showing the malign behavior of the Gonsalves government.
Gonsalves once told us that he doesn’t care if the teachers do not vote for him because they are only 2000 and they cannot influence the outcome of the ULP re-election. Can you believe the ignorance of that statement? But he is obviously beyond ignorance of statement; he is ignorant to the fact that we the teachers have families, husbands, children, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, friends, church companions, association and club companions. That may actually boost those whose votes he will lose to 6,000 persons. There are obviously those Marxists and ULP militants among the teachers who will vote for the ULP even if their wages are stopped and they and their families are starving.
Most of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines are aware of the Marxist background of Gonsalves, his background of assisting revolutionaries in other countries. But many Vincentians are unaware that the Unity Labour Party is in no way anything to do with the old Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Labor Party [SVGLP]. The ULP is really a disguised Marxist party called MNU, supporters and voters alike have been fooled. Those people who arranged for Gonsalves to take control of a re-badged Marxist MNU then known as the ULP, all those people were given knighthoods and jobs for life by Gonsalves after he took power and control of the country. One such man today is 84 years old and was given his knighthood which came about by Gonsalves recommendation to the Governor General who put the person forward to the Queen office as a person to be knighted. This man holds several government jobs, six in total and is paid in excess of $500,000.00 a year, sitting on committees where you can find him snoozing whilst business is discussed. That in itself must be viewed as a slap in the face for the teaching profession. But our faces continue to be slapped by Gonsalves buying $23 million dollars worth of building materials with government money to give away as gifts to the electorate to vote ULP, bribery in the first degree, an offence against the Peoples Act and is a crime in the eyes of the constitution. Dressing these goods up to be repair goods for past hurricanes is little more than a sham. These goods are given out to bribe the electorate prior to every election, if they were given for good reason they would be given out throughout the last fourteen years, every month of every year. Remember the words of Gonsalves at the time of the constitution referendum “you never voted for the new constitution because I never give you lumber, cement and galvanize” that was a direct reference to, and admission on his part that it was necessary to bribe the electorate to succeed politically. I rest my case on that submission of the man’s own words.
The very brave Oswald Robinson the Teachers Union Leader recently said “The teachers expressed in passion and gave us a mandate to demand. We are in a different mode now. We are not requesting anymore we are demanding,”
Between the $23 million illegal misnamed giveaway of government property for the benefit of the ULP political party, and around $2 million a year paid to old cronies as a past Gonsalves debt of appreciation, the teachers could be paid what is now due to them without taking the money from any other social project. To pretend otherwise is little more than the action of a liar and a cheat.
Now if the comrade finds this all political, so be it, because everything he does is political including taking advantage of and bullying the teachers.
The attempt to divide the Unions saying that an informant teacher told him over 50% of the teachers are happy with their current salary is yet another lie. No tinker, tailor, teacher, or government worker is happy with their salary, unless they are part of the Gonsalves approved mob of trough gobblers.
Gonsalves became elected because of the road block revolution, so perhaps we should rid ourselves of him by a similar method. Unlike that time we must be seen to be decent folks, people fit to take the nation’s children and teach them right from wrong. Unlike the ULP and the present government who have been trying their hardest to show our children that telling lies and cheating is OK and because our present leaders do that it’s the norm. We should take to the footpaths as pedestrians with placards; drive our vehicles round and round Kingstown in a continuous convoy at a low speed to be noticed but not to block the highways. Preferably not on a weekday, unless parliament is in session, Saturday morning would be a better day.
Comrade, we no longer want a lying cheating government, we want decency, decency that we can be proud of our students emulating, proud to see our students grow up and adopt. In other words we want you and your family out of our politics; we want better things for ourselves, our students and all the people of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. We have given you a chance and you have failed the annual exams every year since being adopted as our Prime Minister, you are a dunce and a liar. The NDP government is a bad influence on our children and particularly the youth, for the good of our country the ULP must go.
Comrade, stop giving away the taxpayers money by way of election bribery and give it to who it should be paid, the teachers and our colleagues in the National Service Union. If you cannot or will not do that, try and recall some of the millions stashed in Panama by someone or a group within your government.
What nobler employment, or more valuable to the state, than that of the people who instructs the rising generation. ‘Marcus Tullius Cicero’.
The opinions written here are not necessarily those of the Unions and are certainly not those of the publisher. They are the opinions of a very disappointed teacher with many years experience.
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