– gov’t, GTU agree to 12% wage hike for 2016, 8% for 2018
– arbitration proceedings aborted

TEACHERS are set to benefit from salary increases, as well as increases in non-salary benefits, as the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) and the government have agreed on a settlement after weeks of dispute between the two parties.

The agreement came after almost eight hours of consultations between executive members of the GTU and officials of the Ministry of Education at the ministry’s Lot 26 Brickdam office on Friday.

Teachers could expect 12 per cent (junior) and eight per cent (senior) retroactive increases for 2016 and an eight per cent retroactive increase for 2018. There were also initial calls for an increase in salaries for 2017, but the interim payoff of eight per cent which teachers had received in that year was deemed final.

In 2016, increases of 10 per cent and six per cent were given to teachers, and as a result of the new agreement, those increases would be upgraded.

Teachers who benefited from a 10 per cent increase in 2016 would get 12 per cent; and those who received six per cent would get an eight per cent increase on their salaries.
The increases are based on the categories/scales of the teachers, who are placed in scales ranging between TS1-19.

For instance, junior teachers whose salaries are $61,000 would get increases of $7,320 for 2016; this would take their salaries to $68,320 and a further eight per cent ($5,465) for 2018, which would their salaries to $73,785.

The GTU has also bargained for and acquired non-salary benefits such as duty-free concessions and smaller class sizes.

“There were adjustments to the initial offer in keeping with what we ought to have considered in a large way to ensure that every teacher is a beneficiary of the outcome,” said Education Minister Nicolette Henry in an invited comment.

Both parties agreed that there was an “amicable settlement” for the matter not to proceed to arbitration.

The three-year (2016-2018), agreement will be signed in the new week, but government has offered to pay the 2018 salary increase in December and the retroactive salary increase for 2016 in January 2019.

The GTU had called for arbitration after the negotiations had ended in an impasse when the union rejected the ministry’s offer of a one-time payout of $700 million for salary increases, and $200 million for debunching.

The GTU instead called for an increase of 40 per cent for 2016 and respective incremental increases of five per cent for 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020. After the two sides agreed to move to arbitration, GTU President Mark Lyte had announced that GTU was willing to accept as little as 20 per cent.

On Monday of this week, at a meeting between President David Granger and the GTU, a new salary offer was extended to the union, which would see teachers being paid retroactive salary increases beginning with 10 per cent for 2016, and incremental increases of eight per cent for 2017 and 2018, respectively. A sum of $350M was offered for debunching for the period 2011-2018.

In addition to accepting the adjusted offer, the union also agreed to the $350 million payoff for debunching.

“A lot of issues that had to be removed have been removed and it paves the way for a fertile relationship moving forward.…We believe the union was created to support the work of the ministry and the ministry should be supportive of the union, so we are looking for a symbiotic relationship,” said Minister Henry.

GTU President Mark Lyte also agreed that the union is “a lot happier” than it initially was, since the members of the union were able to broker an agreement with the ministry. He believes that the agreement will bring satisfaction to the members, with whom they had consulted every step of the way.

“The previous offers would not have allowed for a significant portion of our teachers to benefit to the extent they will now… the new offer will be more equitably received,” said Lyte, adding that their intention is to ensure that every teacher benefits and that has been achieved.

In a comment under a Facebook post from the Guyana Chronicle, a teacher, Rushell Edwards, said: “I am thankful, so whatever it is when they tax it I give thanks for small mercies. God is a great God.”