GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC—The Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) has dropped its demand that its 2019 to 2023 proposal be negotiated first and has now agreed with the Ministry of Education to shelve that period and begin salary negotiations from this year forward.
This comes after teachers have protested for more than 75 days during two periods since February.
In a statement on Friday, the Ministry of Education announced the end of the Conciliation talks with the GTU, which the Chief Labour Officer was facilitating.
In its announcement, the Education Ministry said the two sides have agreed that the multi-year agreement to be negotiated will address a period commencing from 2024 and onwards.
The Ministry said bilateral talks will now begin on the multi-year agreement.
In confirming the agreement to begin talks this year moving forward, GTU General Secretary Coretta McDonald said the union has submitted a new proposal to the Education Ministry and has agreed to look at 2024 and beyond.
“We have submitted a brand new proposal because of their continued reluctance to look at the 2019-2023 proposal submitted since 2020. Unfortunately, we have had to reach this stage of having to take industrial action, a prolonged one, and then having to be where we are now. However, the proposal submitted to the Ministry of Education still has to be debated, in the sense that the 2019-2023 proposal has some issues that still need to be sorted out.
We look forward to it, and as we have always done, we go out there in good faith, hoping that our partners will return to us.
The GTU hopes that in this new phase, we will not have the nation’s teachers and children having to endure another period of industrial action. We hope that this time around, the Ministry of Education is serious and, by extension, the Government is serious about rewarding teachers for their contributions over the years.”
The GTU General Secretary said that with schools closed on Friday, the hope is that the negotiations will begin during the school holidays and be completed before the new school year starts in September.
McDonald said she does not see the agreement reached with the Ministry of Education as a surrender. She noted that a landmark case favored the union and will now benefit the country’s labor force.
The GTU General Secretary said the union is still confident that its teachers will support the union. She added that the Government could see another side of the GTU if it is not serious about the new round of negotiations, which are set to begin soon.
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