GTU President, 2nd VP suspended by union’s General Council

…after criticisms by Coretta McDonald over teachers’ pay increase agreement

Months after being criticised by Opposition linked elements in the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) for helping to arrange pay increases for teachers, GTU President Mark Lyte and second Vice President Julian Cambridge have now found themselves suspended from the union, they did so much to help.
Based on reports, the decision to suspend the two GTU leaders was made during a meeting of the union’s General Council and it reportedly stemmed from the agreement the GTU signed with the government earlier this year, to bring about an end to teachers striking.

While this publication’s efforts to contact Lyte were futile, he was quoted in the Demerara Waves online linking the decision to suspend them, to the signing of this very agreement. He noted that the very General Council that decided they should sign the agreement, was the one that suspended them on Tuesday. He had also described it as “all concocted”.
On August 21, 2024, after months of negotiations, the Education Ministry and the GTU reached an agreement regarding salary increases and other benefits for educators over the next three years.
Following the signing of the multi-year agreement, GTU’s General Secretary Coretta McDonald had publicly criticized the GTU President and second Vice President, accusing them and other union officers of being in consort with the government and misleading the union’s General Council into believing the deal is more favorable than it is.
She had told the media at the time that Lyte’s decision to sign the deal despite requests for more time was disrespectful and dismissive of the council’s role– something which the GTU president had even then rubbished.
“Absolute rubbish! Absolute rubbish! How would you be in consort with the government, take them to the court, fight them tooth and nail all these months and be in consort with government? That’s absolute nonsense!” Lyte had told local news agency, Demerara Waves Online.
Subsequently, during his weekly press conference, Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo had rebuked blatant attempts by the PNC-led Opposition to sabotage the deal inked between the two parties. In fact, he had reiterated his earlier position that GTU’s General Secretary, who happens to be an A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Member of Parliament, was politically motivated to thwart the negotiations.
“APNU confirmed that they didn’t want an agreement forward. They wanted the industrial unrest and the bad blood to continue because they felt it would serve politically. They don’t care about teachers… So, they confirmed that Coretta McDonald is the conduit to sabotage the agreement,” Jagdeo had posited.
Under the new agreement, teachers will see their salaries rise by 27 per cent by 2026, given that the educators receive a 10 per cent increase for this year, 8 per cent for 2025 and 9 per cent for 2026.
Notably, there is also an adjustable clause in the agreement, which stipulates that if a higher percentage increase is announced for the general public service, teachers will also benefit from the difference.
Earlier this year, teachers across the country had gone on strike for more than 70 days, demanding salary increases and benefits for teachers. The strike ended on June 21, with the GTU and the Education Ministry agreeing to facilitate talks on the multiyear agreement. (G3)