GTU pushes for arbitration to settle teachers’ salary dispute

…Education Ministry refuses to participate
…conciliation talks halted

As the impasse between the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) and the Education Ministry continued over wage increases for teachers, the union said on Wednesday it would consider calling off the strike as long as its conditions are met, which include uitlising arbitration to settle the matter.

This disclosure was made after conciliation talks at the Social Protection Ministry’s Labour Department, where the GTU outlined its justification for arbitration. However, <<Guyana Times>> understands that the GTU was excused and a brief closed-door meeting with Education representatives and the Labour Department was held.
It was related that after this meeting-within-a-meeting concluded, the Education Ministry’s officials returned, holding on to the position that conciliation is the way forward. Under arbitration, a neutral party would take evidence from both sides and then make an award afterwards.
GTU General Secretary Coretta McDonald, in an interview with <<Guyana Times,>> contended that the MoE’s representatives: Social Protection Minister Amna Ally; her junior, Labour Minister Keith Scott; Chief Labour Officer Charles Ogle, and Labour Advisor Francis Carryl, were all members of Government who were advocating on the employer’s (Education Ministry’s) behalf.
The union believes that such advocacy compromised the spirit and intent of conciliation.
“The Education Ministry’s acting DPS (Deputy Permanent Secretary) said they are prepared to go to conciliation, and to ensure that we go to every step of the way until we would have exhausted the process; then we can move on to arbitration…
“GTU, at that point, reiterated our position: that we are prepared to go to arbitration because we have no faith and confidence in the persons who’re representing Government wanting to stand as the mediator,” she explained.
GTU, through its letter to the Labour Department, advised that the State installs an arbitration panel of three persons – a chairman they can both agree on, and one of two additional members to be nominated by each side. The union said there should be no victimisation by either side. It further demanded that teachers must not lose pay or their seniority. The GTU also wants the arbitration panel and its chairman to be identified before teachers turn out to school, and for all parties to respect the final decision of the arbitrator.
However, the Social Protection Ministry, in a statement on Wednesday, said “Conciliation talks” were adjourned until further notice. The Ministry maintained that “before any progress could be made at conciliation, the current strike action initiated by the Union must be called off after a memorandum containing terms of resumption has been signed by the parties.”
According to the Ministry, it is unfortunate that the GTU did not find comfort with the suggestion, which it states necessitated the continuation of conciliation.
“Since the GTU could not find favour with possible terms of resumption facilitating the termination of the strike and the progression of conciliation, the meeting was adjourned to a time and date to be determined shortly,” the statement highlighted.
The union is seeking agreements of 40 per cent increases on each year from 2016 to 2020, but Government has stressed that this request is just not feasible for the over 10,000 teachers in the system.
Education Minister Nicolette Henry was not present at Wednesday’s meeting. However, at an engagement at Queen’s College on Tuesday, she observed that GTU had made an “unnecessary proposal” for duty-free concessions for Union executives.
The Education Ministry has been hosting several meetings, urging parents to send their children out to school when classes start next Monday. The Ministry has said that striking teachers would be substituted by CPCE trainees, recent graduates and retired teachers. Some parents, however, fear that their children could be shortchanged by this arrangement, especially those preparing for CXC examinations and National Grade Six examinations in 2019.