In light of the current stalled negotiations between the Guyana Teacher’s Union (GTU) and the Education Ministry, former Education Minister Dr Henry Jeffery, who was also a former Foreign Affairs Minister, has recommended that the GTU request arbitration to help bring the matter to a possible conclusion.
Education Minister Nicolette Henry
He told Guyana Times on Saturday that if the GTU believe they have come to the end of the negotiating process and they are not satisfied with what they have been given, and they have to strike, they should go ahead, or seek to use arbitration to resolve their issues.
“My concern with this matter is collective bargaining. When the Government came into office and before…in its manifesto, it promised collective bargaining. Collective bargaining would entail a process that would mean the union does not have to strike,” he stated.
GTU President Mark Lyte
For instance, Dr Jeffrey said, both parties would negotiate; if they fail to come to an agreement, the Labour Department will then intervene and try to conciliate. If that process does not bring the desired results, then the next step would be to go to arbitration.
“Nobody wants to go through the process. If you go through the process we wouldn’t be here at this point in time. And that’s my concern about this. If the Government decides to follow the process, we won’t have to be here. It’s their reluctance to go through the proper process of collective bargaining which I can’t understand,” he opined.
The former Education Minister told this newspaper that the GTU has also allowed Government to frustrate the entire braining system by following the long drawn out discourse.
“The GTU is going along the road that the Government is going…it is not the road of collective bargaining…As I said, there is a process. The Government is meeting with them yeah, but they seem (unable to come) to some sort of conclusion that is acceptable to both parties,” Jeffrey explained.
He feels that the GTU should have requested conciliation from the Labour Department. He said the Minister responsible for that sector will have to use his power to order an arbitration.
“An arbitration is a simple matter of court, and (the dispute) would not have been where it is. They (Government) have a mandate to ensure that due course is followed in this matter,” he added.
While Dr Jeffrey has doubts that a strike action will take place as planned, he feels if the strike is to take effect, it would have a huge impact on the education sector.
“We know the repercussions. Disruption of family life and what it will cost from an educational standpoint…exams and the need to change the timings. It will have that kind of implication. So they have to be careful and prepare if any such thing is to happen,” he stated.
The GTU has circulated a letter to inform its members that they are not to report for pre-term activities until further notice. The Union has also urged head teachers to begin handing over school keys to the respective regional Education Departments.
GTU President Mark Lyte envisions that 90 per cent of teachers in the public schools are ready to support the union’s move to have strike action on August 27.
GTU has outrightly rejected Government’s request for teachers to agree to a debunching payoff of $200 million for 2018/19. The union similarly rejected the $700 million cap that was placed on salary increases.
The stalemate also revealed that Government was not budging on the clothing allowance, which remains at $8000. For the Whitley Council leave, teachers still have to wait four years before getting their one month off. GTU was appealing for three years.
The Ministry indicated that it wants to maintain school boards with an improved staff, but the GTU is not in favour of this proposal, since school boards and the Teaching Service Commission are “operating at a different level and there are a lot of problems”.
Nevertheless, the Ministry and the GTU did come to an agreement for improved salaries for Special Education Needs (SEN) teachers, which would help those schools that have dormitories to remove some of the “burden” that rests with head teachers.
The two sides also determined that hinterland teachers would be allowed to return to their homes once per term. The Education Ministry will set up a Revolving Fund Committee to deal with the Teachers House Revolving Fund.
There was also some consensus on class sizing for certain categories of schools. Despite these agreements, the GTU was adamant that teachers must not accept what has been proposed.
