With the talks between the Ministry of Education and the Guyana Teachers grinding to a halt again, the Ministry of Education is insisting that teachers end their strike action and return to the classroom, to allow the Conciliation process to continue.

The Ministry has pointed to the rules of the 1990 agreement which paves the way for conciliation talks and which states that “During the consideration of the matter in dispute under the procedure, there shall be no strike, stoppage of work whether of a partial or general nature, go slow, boycott, picketing, retardation of production or any other interference with the Ministry’s operations, by the Union, nor shall there be any lockout or any other form of interference with the Ministry’s operations, by the Union, nor shall there be any lock out or any other form of interference by the Ministry. Both parties shall endeavour to maintain a state of normal Industrial Relations”.

The Education Ministry said the GTU needs to act in good faith and honour the 1990 agreement, noting that Conciliation cannot commence until the strike has ended and a state of normalcy returns.

The Ministry of Education, however, continues to make clear its position that it is ready to work on a multi-year agreement from 2024 onwards.

The Guyana Teachers Union maintains that the Ministry of Education needs to first address the outstanding 2019-2023 proposal, which was submitted four years ago.

The GTU has said that it is open to compromising on the 2019-2023 period, taking into account the COVID-19 pandemic, but it will not do away with that period completely, to discuss 2024 and beyond.

The union also intends to continue pressing forward with its demand for a 20% across the board payout to teachers. The union said teachers will remain on strike.

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