President of the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU), Dr. Mark Lyte, has announced that the Union will be heading back to the High Court in wake of a breakdown of talks with the Education Ministry following the Court appointed mediation process that ended the strike by teachers.

The GTU is accusing the Ministry of Education of reneging on an earlier ‘agreement’ that the two sides would discuss salary increases for teachers for the period 2019-2023 as part of a multi-year agreement. 

Backed by Executives of his Union, Lyte made the announcement today during an emergency press conference at GTU Headquarters shortly after talks between the two sides collapsed.

“We are going to take this matter back to the Court for the Court to adjudicate on the matter. We are, at present, in consultation with our lawyers, and we believe that reneging on the first position taken, and the legitimacy of the signed agreement coming out of the first meeting is placing this administration as one that we cannot trust,” Lyte told reporters. 

Based on the minutes of the meeting held last Thursday, which was signed by both the President of the Guyana Teachers’ Union, Mark Lyte, and the Chief Education Officer, Saddam Hussain, today’s meeting should have focused on “salary matters included in the multi-year proposal 2019-2023,” among other critical issues.

Lyte told reporters today that though the Chief Education Officer during the first meeting identified himself as the “Chief negotiator” for the Education Ministry, the Education Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Shannielle Hoosein, showed up at today’s meeting to introduce herself as the “Chief Negotiator” for the Government and making it clear that the Government has no intention to discuss a wage package for the period 2019-2023. 

“We were not even settled when the permanent secretary indicated that the Government will not negotiate as agreed on in the last meeting from 2019-2023…At that time, the Union resolutely put forward its position that we are not interested in discussing any multi-year proposal 2024 and beyond because we have not submitted such,” Lyte said. 

While making it clear that the Union will not be bullied by the Government, the GTU President said it was disrespectful for the Permanent Secretary to suggest that the Union should return to its members to discuss a new proposal that spans 2024 and beyond. 

He said it would appear that the Government is divided on the issue, and the indication by the Ministry of Education that there is no fiscal space to accommodate the proposed increases for 2019-2023, is “absolute rubbish.”

“The Chief Education Officer, who was at that time the chief negotiator, went to his principals two hours and five minutes to consult and came back with a position, as documented in the minutes that they are prepared to have talks 2019-2023 proposal, so absolutely there is some level of division, and maybe a great level of division in the Administration as to how this matter should be treated,” Lyte said. 

He said even as the Union consults with its attorneys on the legal actions to be taken, it will consider other actions, including the resumption of industrial action.   

“For obvious reasons, all the options are before us, strike being the one that we would have called off, and strike being a possible action that could resume. In fact, calling off of the strike was temporary to have these discussions take place. So, this nation can be plunged again into a nationwide strike action because the thousands of teachers across this country are disappointed in the action of this administration and they will be held accountable for this,” the GTU President said. 

Describing the nation’s teachers as strong and resilient, Lyte urged teachers to remain resolute, optimistic and positive, adding that the “fight is not over”.

General Secretary of the Teachers’ Union, Coretta McDonald said the Union will press on with its representation of its members.

“I want to say to our teachers, thank you for being this resilient, and that we will continue to have this fight because we are in a struggle for survival. And I just want to quote from Maya Angelou, who said, ‘you will face many defeats in life but never allow yourself to be defeated.’ So, as a teaching fraternity that’s what we will go forward with,” McDonald said. 

In a statement, the Ministry of Education said the 2024 national budget does not have the fiscal space to accommodate retroactive payment of salaries for the teachers during the period 2019-2024, and as such, the Union was advised to resubmit a proposal that starts from 2024. 

Last week, the two sides agreed that the four-week strike action by teachers would be called off with immediate effect, to allow discussions to resume on salary increases and other matters.

The agreement was the result of a mediation process ordered by High Court Judge, Sandil Kissoon, who had expressed serious concern for the nation’s children, who found themselves at home as teachers stayed away from the classroom. (Svetlana Marshall)

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