By Svertlana Marshall

Negotiations between the Ministry of Education and the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) wrapped up today with an agreement that the proposed multi-year agreement, that is currently under discussion, will cover a period of five years – 2019 to 2023.

The agreement was reached following a brief impasse. 

President of the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU), Mark Lyte, who led a 13-member delegation to the negotiations with the Chief Education Officer (CEO) Saddam Hussain and his team, explained that the Education Ministry had initially proposed that the agreement should cover 2024, but the Union did not agree to that one year agreement.

“What we did coming out of this afternoon’s meeting was have the ministry commit to the period for the multi-year agreement to be signed. As you know, we had a little impasse this morning as to when it should commence. They were insisting that it starts in 2024, the GTU insisted that it should go back to 2019 – that has been achieved,” Lyte explained. 

As he stood outside of the Ministry of Education’s Brickdam Office, where the meeting took place, Lyte explained that it was important to first establish the timeframe for the agreement. 

The Union hoped that the Education Ministry would have also agreed to a Terms of Reference (ToR) for the meetings.

The two sides have since agreed to have signed minutes in place at the conclusion of every meeting. 

Based on today’s minutes, the two sides will return to the negotiating table at 9:30am next Tuesday. Lyte and his team intend to discuss the proposed increases, which range between 20-25% for the established period. 

“GTU is mainly interested in the teachers’ salary increase package. So, that remains our number one priority. So, we would have started the discussion as it relates to the proposal and what the union did is to say, we want to know what is coming from the government side, in terms of our proposal being 20% or 25%, what it is it that they are offering, and I think, the ministry did ask for Tuesday so they can report back in terms of the numbers,” the GTU President explained. 

He made it clear that the union is not prepared to accept single digits. 

Additionally, the Union will also be pushing to have the uniform allowance for teachers increase from the current $8,000 per year to $30,000 per year.

Meanwhile, Lyte reported that though initially reluctant, teachers have returned to school in large numbers. 

“Initially, I think many teachers were of the opinion that this process would be dragged out and so, there was some level of concern as to whether they should go back. But eventually, when we spoke to them, they understood that it is a process, and part of that process for it to move forward, they had to return to school because you cannot negotiate under duress. So, having shared that with them, they have an understanding, and the attendance at school from yesterday was really good,” he explained. 

Today’s meeting was birthed out of a Court-ordered mediation process, which brought an end to the nationwide strike by teachers just as it was entering its fifth week.

Related posts:

Education Ministry threatens salary deductions and other consequences for striking teachers GTU requests Arbitration in stalled salary negotiations for teachers Teachers begin “sick-out” as part of early action to press for salary negotiations Salary negotiations for teachers not over; Education Minister to meet with GTU