Agreement between GTU, Education Ministry not signed

Wages impasse

The agreement only recently made between the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) and the Education Ministry to end the teachers’ salary impasse was expected to be signed off on Wednesday; however, the two parties were unable to do so.
GTU General Secretary Coretta McDonald on Monday told Guyana Times that the agreement was expected to be signed by Wednesday. When McDonald was contacted on Wednesday, she informed that the two sides would not be meeting during the day.
Moreover, the General Secretary pointed out that the GTU officials were set to meet and did not comment on the agreement.
Although she had previously voiced her concern over the 12 per cent and eight per cent payout being offered by the Government, she opted not to comment before meeting with the Union on Wednesday.
Thereafter, all calls went unanswered.
Calls made to the Education Ministry’s office also went unanswered.  Last Friday, the GTU finally agreed to the Ministry’s offer after consulting its members. The

The Education Ministry and GTU officials addressing the media at the last meeting held on Friday last

disclosure was made after more than six hours of discussion between the two sides.
Education Minister Nicolette Henry announced, “What we have proposed essentially is in so far as 2016 is concerned, we finalised at 12 and eight per cent respectively and for 2018, we’re at eight per cent and the debunching figure (is) the one that we shared earlier – the $350,000,000.”
Although fewer smiles were seen on the faces of the executives after that meeting, GTU President Mark Lyte told this publication that the Union was satisfied with the amount being given to teachers. “We are walking away a lot happier than initially. We recognise that we were able to broker an agreement with the Ministry of Education that will bring a lot of satisfaction to our members, and I think that was the ultimate objective of this whole process to ensure that every teacher benefits significantly.”
According to him, the previous offers tabled did not provide benefits for all teachers. In fact, some 80 per cent of teachers, he said, would not have benefited from the Government’s previous offer.
It was explained by him that the increases for teachers will be paid in two tranches. “The increases are going to be paid in two tranches, because you know what teachers receive in 2016 would have an impact on 2017 and 2018, so we are going to have payments being done in December and payments being done in January 2019,” Lyte stated.
A joint statement shared with the media from the two agencies said: “Having considered new information provided, which included salary benefits for all scales of teachers ranging from TS1 to TS19 and special and non-salary benefits, the two parties concluded discussions and have committed to the implementation of the agreement. The three-year 2016 to 2018 agreement will be signed in the new week.”
Not only has the arbitration process been wiped off the table owing to the recent agreement but also the thought of strike action.
Teachers were gearing up for another round of protest action following a number of failed discussions between the GTU and the Ministry. They were being rallied by the Union as they were unable to agree with the Ministry on the appointment of an arbitration panel to decide the teachers’ wages dispute.
A 40 per cent salary increase for public school teachers was initially proposed for the year 2016. Over time, the percentage would be increased for all categories of represented teachers.
For the year 2017, the Union was hoping to have bargained for a 45 per cent increase, which would then increase to 50 per cent for the remainder of the years indicated in the agreement (2018-2020).
It recently changed its demands and said it was willing to accept a ‘substantial’ payout from the Government.