– after GTU, Education Ministry remain deadlock on salary increases, debunching
– parties agree to several non-salary benefits

TALKS between the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) and the Ministry of Education (MoE) remained in limbo after representatives from the two sides met on salary increases, debunching monies and other issues on Thursday.

While the ministry and the union did not agree on salaries and debunching sums, they made headways on several non-financial issues.

Addressing a group of teachers gathered outside the MoE Brickdam, Georgetown, headquarters immediately after the meeting, GTU President Mark Lyte confirmed that the union is looking to push forward with its planned strike action.

The union had decided last Friday that teachers will go on strike if the Ministry of Education does not give into its demands.

“We’re coming out very dissatisfied with this engagement, for the simple reason that our salary issues were a major concern here. Increases in salaries and other financial benefits all remain the same, [so] the unions position will have to remain the same, [that is] disagreeing with them,” Lyte said after Thursday’s meeting.

“With regard to salary issues, salaries remains $700M on offer, the union rejected again; debunching the $200M remains the same, again we rejected. We believe our increases are extremely important. Our main concern is that our teachers cannot survive on the salary they are receiving and therefore the struggle continues.”

AGREEMENT
On Thursday, the two sides were able to agree on several issues including the ministry agreeing to pay senior teachers improved salaries; the hiring of a specialist to help at schools that have dormitories, so as to ease the burden on the head teacher; hinterland teachers being given a return fare once per term; and the setting up of a revolving fund committee to deal with the teachers house revolving fund (that committee will comprise a representative from the Ministry of Communities, two from the MoE and two from the GTU) and schools that can facilitate a reduction in class size will commence doing so.
Speaking at a press briefing after the meeting, Education Minister Nicolette Henry maintained that what is being offered is all Government can afford.

“I want to say to my teachers that the Government of Guyana continues to care for you, and we will ensure that, as far as possible, you get what we could afford, what is best for you, what is best for the country, and what is best for all of us. We promised a good life for all and we will work within what we have and the resources available to do the best that we can,” Henry expressed.

However, the union maintains that the Government can afford more.
“We believe that they have the ability to pay more, to honour our teachers, our loving teachers, our hard working teachers; we believe the administration has the capacity to pay teachers, to make a better offer,” Lyte contended.

“What the ministry is focussing on is what extra they have within the 2018 budget to spare, but we are looking at a multi-year agreement that spans five years, so you can’t look at one year budget allocation to determine what you can give for five years. It has to be a projection coming from Cabinet, the Finance Minister being involved, to know what they can pay retroactively. The ministry’s budget would only inform what they can pay this year based on their reserves, and that’s where they are speaking from.”

NEXT STEP
Henry explained that the next step in the collective bargaining process is conciliation, which would take the matter out of her ministry’s hand and in the care of the Ministry of Labour.

“The procedures do not suggest that after negotiations is arbitration. We are all guided by procedure. We are at negotiations, after that we go to conciliation; what conciliation means is that it is no longer under the authority of this ministry,” Henry explained
The union did not commit to moving to the conciliation stage, and according to Lyte, he saw no need for any more meetings between the GTU and the ministry.

“I told the minister that we will write her formally to indicate what our next move is; we were not prepared to make a commitment there as to the next step, which might not be in favour of us; the next step has to be something that is favourable to us. We will get some legal advice on the way forward, but we indicated to the minister that we were not prepared to come to another meeting, having the ministry already decided on two occasions that they can’t move what they are offering,” Lyte related.

Minister of State Joseph Harmon, speaking at his weekly post-Cabinet press briefing on Thursday, said the aim of the MoE negotiation was to ensure there is “common ground” and to  “ensure teachers are encouraged to stay in the classrooms and not on the streets”.
He noted the importance of teachers in molding the minds of the young people and that government’s interest is always to ensure that they are comfortable.

“We are doing our best to ensure our teachers get a better package than they do have,” he said.