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GTU will not accept Govt.’s proposed salary increases
Kaieteur News – The Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) on Saturday said that while the government of Guyana through the Ministry of Education has proposed a six and seven percent salary increase for teachers, the Union has not agreed to the proposal or signed an agreement regarding the proposed multi-year package.
In a statement issued on the Union’s Facebook page, the body that represents teachers said, “The GTU wishes to advise that no agreement has been reached or signed relating to a multi-year package for teachers. Contrary to the percentages in circulation, the Union has not and will not accept.”
Further, the GTU said that it will update its members on Monday about the progress made after the last two days of discussions between the Ministry of Education and the Union.
The GTU’s statements comes two days after it was reported by online news outlet News Source that the Government of Guyana has made an initial proposal of a 7% salary increase for teachers for this year with a further 6% increase for 2025 and another 6% increase for 2026.
According to the report, the counter proposal by the Government follows the submitted proposal of the Guyana Teachers’ Union, which is seeking a 39.5% salary increase for this year with an additional 30% increase for each of the years 2025 and 2026.
The office of the Opposition leader has since issued a statement calling on all fair-minded Guyanese join with teachers in rejecting the insulting government proposal of 6 to 7% salary increase over the years 2024 to 2026.
The statement said “It is another slap on the face of teachers. One is hard-pressed to even call 6-7% an increase, given that food and other types of inflation have reduced and will continue to reduce real or disposable income of teachers, public servants and other wage-earners.”
“Guyanese must note that while Jagdeo and the PPP continue to sit on their hands and allow hundreds of billions of dollars to be embezzled through corruption in the procurement system, they have no shame in offering Guyana’s teachers crumbs and dregs,” the statement added.
On Thursday, following a five-hour meeting between the two sides, the news outlet reported President of the GTU, Mark Lyte, said while there is some progress being made in some areas, the two sides have agreed not to divulge details of the meeting at this time.
“Both sides committed to not releasing details on the discussions, but I would say for the most part, our discussion today went very well, and you can see that the members are hopeful, optimistic that in the short-term, we will have a signed agreement,” the GTU President said.
However, Lyte declined to offer any comment on the Government’s proposal, indicating that during the course of today’s negotiations, there were a number of financial and non-financial matters that were not settled.
“The proposal put forward by the Ministry, like I said, several areas they have to go back and get, because when they proposed certain things, the Union might have said, we don’t quite agree with this and those are being reviewed,” he said.
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