GTU threatens massive industrial action over salary talks with Govt.

Mar 15, 2024 News

Vice President of Guyana, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo and President of the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU), Dr. Mark Lyte

Kaieteur News – President of the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) Dr. Mark Lyte has threatened to return to the street if the Government of Guyana fails to return to the talks with the Union on the proposed multi-year salary increases for teachers.

Dr. Lyte during a Facebook live broadcast via the Union’s page on Thursday said, “I am issuing here, a verbal ultimatum that within the next few hours, if the government does not indicate their willingness to come to the table… and I am sending a very clear message, if you are not willing to come to the table to discuss 2019-2023, or to negotiate around that period, what years we are going to focus on, there is going to be a resumption of a massive industrial action, a resumption of industrial action…”

After just over a month of industrial action, the GTU called off the nationwide teachers’ strike following a successful mediation process that brokered an agreement for salary talks to take place between the Government and GTU.

The agreement between the GTU and the Attorney General—the State’s legal representative followed almost two days of mediation that was ordered by High Court judge, Justice Sandil Kissoon.

The mediation process was presided over by Senior Counsel, Robin Stoby and Edward Luckhoo.

Teachers returned to work on March 6, 2024. Since then, the Union and the government met twice. At the second meeting held on Tuesday, talks deteriorated and the Union indicated that it is preparing to return to the High Court.

During an emergency press conference held at the GTU’s headquarters on Woolford Avenue, the GTU President accused 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 in accordance with the multi-year agreement.

“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,” Dr. Lyte told reporters.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, the GTU President urged teachers to be prepared to return to the streets. “Teachers with the way things are going, I urge you to get your slippers out, get your boots out, get your feet ready, get your water ready. We did it for five weeks, and we can do it for however long is required. The Government must respect the teachers of this nation, and I stand here as a leader with integrity, that I will not, that I will not, allow anyone to bully us.”

Dr. Lyte said that the particulars of the ultimatum will be communicated formally to the Government as he urged teachers to be on standby.

Meanwhile, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, while speaking at a press conference earlier in the day said the Union’s call for retroactive salary increases for the years 2019 – 2023 is “unacceptable”.

The VP maintained that the 2024 Budget does not have the fiscal space to facilitate a retroactive payment of salary increases to teachers for the years 2019 to 2023.

“What the Union wants cannot be accommodated by the fiscal framework. They want us to sign a multi-year agreement retroactively, a multi-year agreement retroactive to 2019, and then also address 2% from 2017, and another 2% from 2018. So, they want us to go back seven years back to address wages and salary issues that were not addressed under APNU,” the Vice President said.

Jagdeo posited that any decision to offer retroactive salary increases for the period requested by the GTU could result in other categories of public servants making similar demands.

“If you reopen that for teachers, you have to, out of fairness, you have to ensure that every other category would get the same retroactive increase. It wouldn’t be fair otherwise; we can’t sustain that in the budget,” the Vice President reasoned.

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