GTU concedes to Govt’s salary increase negotiations from 2024 onwards

…talks on new multi-year agreement to start

After months prolonged industrial action, the Guyana Teacher’s Union (GTU) has finally conceded to government’s proposal that salary increases for teachers should be determined under a new agreement from the current year onward.
This is the same proposal Government had made even before the GTU moved to indusial actions.

The GTU had been pushing for a backdated collective bargaining agreement. But Government, through the Ministry of Education, has maintained that it is fully prepared to work on a multi-year agreement from 2024 and not 2019 as being initially demanded by the union. The GTU subsequently recanted and agreed to negotiate from 2022 onwards – a proposal that was also rejected by Government.
However, on Friday, the Education Ministry announced that following discussions with the union over the past two weeks, the two sides have come to an agreement.
“The conciliation process has ended with the parties agreeing that the multi-year agreement will address a period commencing from 2024 and onwards,” the ministry said in a brief statement.
In a separate statement on Friday, the GTU explained that it presented a new proposal covering the period 2024-2026 following consultations with its membership.
“We believe that the members’ wishes must be respected at all times and that a speedy resolution is in the best interest of all Guyanese. The union assures its members and the general public that our negotiating team is well positioned to present a strong case for increased salaries and other benefits to our members,” the GTU said in its missive.
Bilateral talks between the ministry and the union on the new 2024-2026 multi-year agreement is now slated to commence on July 11 at 10:30h.
According to the Education Ministry, it “…will continue to serve teachers in various ways and continues to have the best interest of teachers at heart.”
The now concluded conciliation process was initiated by the Education Ministry after the GTU had agreed to end its 70 plus-day strike action that was undertaken by teachers from across the country.
Among the terms of the June 21 agreement was for the end of the strike and full resumption of work by all teachers/educators within two working days; no discrimination or loss of service or transfer of any teachers who were on strike; and for the status quo to prevail pending the outcome of the legal proceedings in the courts.
That Agreement of Resumption follows a breakdown of talks between the ministry and the union, resulting in the intervention of the Labour Ministry to mediate between the two parties.
Since then, the MOE and GTU have met numerous times, under the supervision of the Labour Ministry, to embark on negotiations to determine a Multi-Year Agreement which would be beneficial to all parties involved.
The process adheres to the guidelines outlined in the 1990 Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) titled, “The Avoidance and Settlement of Disputes”, as well as the Labour Act, Chapter 98:01 of the Laws of Guyana.
In a statement on Friday, the Labour Ministry said the resumption agreement not only put an end to the strike and ensure full resumption of work but also allows children to resume their academic endeavours.
During the signing, Chief Labour Officer (CLO), Dhaneshwar Deonarine, who served as the conciliator during the engagements between the two parties, voiced his satisfaction that this issue of the strike was peacefully resolved and is now moving towards a solution that would be in everyone’s best interest.
Meanwhile, Permanent Secretary of the Education Ministry, Shannielle Hoosein-Outar, had reaffirmed that Government has always been committed to ensuring what is best for the children, the teachers and the nation.
On the other hand, President of the GTU, Mark Lyte, had echoed similar sentiments. He had explained to reporters that the decision to end the strike was based on a consensus by teachers across the country during previous consultations.
Initially, GTU was demanding a 20 per cent across-the-board increase before resuming conciliation talks – something which the Education Ministry had rejected, saying that it will not negotiate under duress.
Lyte disclosed that the GTU membership would have changed their stance on this hence the union went ahead and agreed to resumption without pushing for this increase.
Moreover, the GTU president went onto note that many were concerned about the practice that teachers ought to show up on the first and last day of the school term in order to avoid being struck off the payroll. He explained that while this is not a documented policy, some teachers had faced this consequence in the past if they did not report to work on the first or last day.
“This is something that a lot of teachers were concerned about and they raised that during our consultations. So, many of them had indicated that whether the strike was called off or not, they were going to resume duty on or before the last day of school,” the GTU Head had related. (G8)