Teachers continue strike action with protest close to Energy Conference venue

Teachers across the country continued to stay away from their classrooms in large numbers today as their strike action entered its third week.

Across the country, teachers gathered in large numbers and hosted protest marches. In Georgetown, hundreds of teachers and their supporters moved into the Kingston area, close to the Marriott Hotel, where the opening of the Guyana Energy conference was taking place.

On the picket line, GTU General Secretary, Coretta McDonald said there has been no response from the Government to recent letters from the Guyana Teachers Union. Since the strike started, the Government has made no effort to reach out to the union in an effort to restart negotiations.

“We want to know why is the Government so bent on disrespecting the teachers. I am hearing that if they increase teachers salary, what will happen to other public sector workers, But I am asking what do we all receive at the end of the year, its the same across the board increase, but the increase you give us, is what you want to give us, but at the end of the day you give it to all sector of workers”, McDonald said.

With the Guyana Energy Conference taking place this week, the GTU General Secretary said that with all of the development in the oil and gas sector, teachers and other citizens are still to see direct benefits, even as billions of dollars is being earned.

She said “now that we are getting all of this oil coming up, we are finding it difficult to pay teachers”.

McDonald said the union is ready to talk and that it is why it has been meeting with its members and listening to them during the protest.

Some parents and teachers who were also part of this morning’s protest in Georgetown also called on the Government to begin engaging the nation’s teachers since the children are the ones who will suffer the most.

Most schools in Georgetown were almost empty for an 11th day today as the strike continue. The GTU is pushing for the Government to begin negotiations on its multi-year proposal which was submitted more than three years ago.