Multi-year agreement: Teachers to receive 10 months retroactive payments next month – GTU

One month after the signing of the 2024-2026 multi-year agreement for salaries and other benefits, teachers are expected to receive their retroactive payment from January to October 2024 next month.
The announcement was made by Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) President, Dr. Mark Lyte on Monday, who explained that the provision would cover some ten months of backdated payments.
Additionally, the 10 per cent salary increase agreed upon by GTU through the signing multi-year agreement will be added to teachers’ payroll with effect from November 1.
In an interview with this publication following the announcement, Lyte reiterated the union’s satisfaction with the package offered by government through the Education Ministry, noting that it is the first time since the establishment of the union that the body was able to secure a two digit increase along with substantial benefits.

“… in the 2018 agreement, we were able to get double digits for the first year, that’s I think 2016. For the first time, we are actually signing an agreement which would have taken effect currently with a double digit salary increase percentage. All the other agreements prior to 2018 were just 5 per cent stated per year. So, there’s a lot that under my presidency that teachers can actually indicate that there have been increases not only in scholarships, we’ve had additional allowances being added to the list. We’ve had increases in station and hardline allowances with the RAI under my leadership,” the GTU president said.
Aside from the agreed salary increase, the multi-year agreement also included several non-salary benefits for teachers.
Teachers, who hold doctoral degrees will receive $32,000 monthly, while those who have a master’s degree will receive $22,000 monthly, and holders of a Postgraduate Diploma and Certificate in Education will now receive $7,000 and $5,000, respectively.
Further, scholarships have increased by 100 per cent annually, and as a result, 70 educators will have access to free scholarships for Diplomas in Education while 30 will secure Masters in Education through the University of Guyana (UG).
Moreover, as it relates to promotions for teachers, Dr. Lyte disclosed that GTU will be engaging the Education Ministry this week to outline the new criteria under which teachers will be able to see an additional increase in their salaries.
“We will be engaging the Ministry sometime in this week, hopefully before Friday, to look at the criteria that we would want to use for promotion, and hopefully in the new term, somewhere in the month of January, we will see teachers who apply and without a position through the promotional process, will be moving to a new school or changing status at the same school. So that is likely to happen in the short term. All of these things will help to ensure that our teachers gain additional finance because with promotion, we’re not only talking about responsibilities, but we also see promotion bring in additional salaries. So, we’re pushing for that to happen,” he added.
On August 21, 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 publicly criticised GTU President Mark Lyte and the union’s second Vice President Julian Cambridge, 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 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 has since 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 told local news agency, Demerara Waves Online.
Subsequently, during his weekly press conference, Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo rebuked blatant attempts by the PNC-led Opposition to sabotage the deal inked between the two parties.
In fact, he reiterated his earlier position that GTU’s General Secretary Coretta McDonald was politically motivated to thwarting 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 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. (G1)