Almost three weeks after talks between the Ministry of Education and the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) came to a halt, the two sides are expected to meet again next Monday, with the hope of advancing the conciliation process.

President of the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU), Dr. Mark Lyte made the announcement today during a virtual session with teachers.

He said as a responsible union leader and educator, he dispatched a correspondence to the Chief Labour Officer (CLO) Dhaneshwar Deonarine on Monday, requesting a resumption of the talks with the Education Ministry.

“While we are cognizant of the fact that our educators are in dire need of a liveable salary, we are also cognizant of the fact that we are a responsible union, we are a responsible trade union body…[and] as your president, I took the liberty to reach out to the Chief Labour Officer as a responsible union leader, as a responsible Guyanese, as a responsible educator,” Lyte said. 

The Union was hoping for the meeting to take place this week, however, the Chief Labour Officer is currently out of the jurisdiction, and it was therefore agreed that the meeting will be held next Monday.

Lyte said as mature and responsible leaders, it Is important for the Union and the Education Ministry to meet to “iron out” their differences. He said the strike cannot continue indefinitely.

He said the union is prepared to compromise on the timeframe for the multi-year-package for teachers, but noted that the terms of resumption must include an interim across the board payment to all teachers of 20%.

Initially, the Union was pushing for the Government to negotiate the outstanding 2019-2023 multi-year agreement. However, it is now willing to have the agreement cover the period 2022 to 2025, to include the years proposed by Government.  

But Lyte stressed that for teachers to return to their classrooms, an interim payment must be made.

“The strike continues because until the favorable terms of resumption are inked the strike continues. And I want everybody to know, that the strike has not been called off, the strike continues until we have favorable terms of resumption that would pave the way for conciliation, and if conciliation failed thereafter, for us to initiate the process of arbitration,” the GTU President said. 

He shot down suggestions by some Government officials that the strike was political.

“We are unable to survive on the package that we currently have, and when I say we, I am talking about those 8-9,000 teachers, who are within the TS 1-3 scale that are receiving just about $100,000 and are unable to survive on that salary. A vast majority of those teachers, their salaries are meager and they just cannot survive,” he explained. 

More than 50% of the nation’s teachers have stayed away from their classrooms during the ongoing stike, according to Education Officials.

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