With no move by the Government to continue negotiations on the proposed salary increases for teachers, the Guyana Teachers’ Union has written to the Chief Labour Officer Dhaneshwar Deonarine, requesting that the process be moved to arbitration.

The request follows an earlier request a few weeks back for conciliation talks to begin. Those talks were never held, further stalling the negotiations.

In its latest letter to the Chief Labour Officer, the GTU pointed out that all matters discussed during previous meetings between the union and the Ministry of Education were non-financial matters, since the Education Minister Priya Manickchand repeatedly made it clear to the union that financial matters are dealt with by the Office of the President and not the Ministry of Education.

The GTU stated that it has not been engaged by the Office of the President on any salary or finance related issue, and the union therefore demands that arbitration proceedings be set in motion, since the time for conciliation has now expired.

The union is urging that an arbitrator mutually agreed to by the union and the Government, be identified so that the process can begin. The GTU said it is ready to participate in the identification and selection process for an arbitrator.

The GTU recently lashed out at the Government over a meeting the President hosted with a group of headteachers and deputy headteachers from various schools across the country.

At that meeting, some of the teachers said they would prefer an increase in allowances over an increase in salaries. The President said he was going to look into that request. However, the GTU, which was not part of the meeting, said the group of “selected” teachers were in no position or had no authority to make representation on behalf of the more than 7000 teachers who are members of the GTU.

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GTU writes Chief Labour Officer to begin process of Conciliation over delayed salary negotiations GTU prepared to call off strike if Education Ministry agrees to arbitration -Union President GTU doesn’t want Dept. of Labour mediating Conciliation talks; Ready for Arbitration in salary dispute Salary negotiations for teachers not over; Education Minister to meet with GTU