After the last GTU elections our group has taken the decision to analyse the results and at the same time to share information with teachers and the public at large mainly about the true reasons for our defeat. There are aspects linked to these elections and their outcome that appear quite disturbing and it is precisely one of the reasons that has prompted my group to state and highlight them for teachers as well as for the general public.

The first thing that we have noticed is that Mr Obeegadoo has deliberately ensured that teachers should feel disgruntled about our group and there are so many examples to illustrate and justify this point. First and foremost the MES did not respond to the union?s request last year for the review of allowances for invigilation and marking exercises and this has been the case for the first time during the last sixteen years .The silence of the MES on this matter has been quite eloquent for us and now we can make an opinion about this matter.

For the first time in the annals of the union the Ministry has chosen this year to give postings to student teachers of the southern region to the Port-Louis district and while in the transfer committee we strongly objected to it and managed to bring necessary changes to this unacceptable decision , we noticed after the resumption of studies that the same persons were still penalized .The Ministry can in no way pretend that it is innocent in this connection. At the same time it has been noticed that the transfer list was tampered to favour a handful of teachers to the detriment of the majority of them.

Since the beginning of last year the union raised the issue of the start of the diploma course for a new batch of teachers and the ministry has chosen to delay it .It is due to our insistence on the same matter that application forms were sent to schools in September last but no follow-up was made in same regard. This has been another deliberate attempt by the employer in order to discredit us in the eyes of our members.

Many deputy head teachers in charge of administrative duties complained to the effect that the ministry was humiliating them by imposing teaching responsibilities on them though they had never asked to be reverted back to teaching. The union had never witnessed such a retrograde step taken by the ministry during the last ten years or so.

So far as the NLNS is concerned ,it is no secret for anybody that so far the ministry has taken no decision though the Front Commun has made clear and specific representations dealing with amendments to the time-table, sharing of responsibilities between GP and AL teachers and at the same time the review of the quantum of allowances. The union has at the same time pointed out to the ministry the need for it to proceed with the promotion of AL teachers who have been waiting for quite a long time but it has again chosen to remain deliberately indifferent to our demand. The same attitude of the ministry was noticed about our demand for rendering the load of GP teachers lighter as only minor actions have so far been announced in same connection.

At a recent radio program I had the opportunity to point out that political agents were mobilized against our team for the elections and this is not a mere allegation .Our members have on several occasions informed us that these agents had called to schools in specific regions to convince them to vote against us. But on the day of the last elections a major thing was noted in this connection...

Perhaps Mr Obeegadoo could now enlighten the public about the subtle campaign carried out against myself and my team by him and the ministry. The statement he made against me after the union?s demonstration before the IVTB House is known to everybody and I hope that this article will help members as well as the public to gauge the situation better in schools and in primary education. In the light of the facts advanced above the real reasons for our defeat at the union elections should be clear to everybody.

In the same breath I am also happy to point out that I feel proud to have adopted firm and uncompromising stands on fundamental issues like the dismantling of the welfare state, proposals for deregulation in the world of work, privatization, the White Paper on IRA, pension etc. Through the GTU and especially the MLC I have at no time given way to government and the Private sector to impose their decisions against workers and I feel that I can still make a contribution in this regard through the close relations that I still entertain with a number of trade union organizations in the country.

While expressing my views on the elections I do not in the least way contest the verdict of members through the vote cast by them .In fact I have declared publicly that I have no bitterness and that I congratulate the winning team for their victory. My only objective through this article is to show to the public the role played by the employer and especially by Mr Obeegadoo to get rid of my group at the GTU.

Jugdish LOLLBEEHARRY Ex-President GTU