THE Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) has threatened to take industrial action through “work to rule” to protest the non-receipt of “debunching” payments which was agreed some time ago between the union and the Ministry of Education.The “work to rule” exercise has been scheduled for May 4 and the GTU has called on all teachers to join the exercise, despite the impending Caribbean Secondary Examinations Council (CSEC) exams.

Speaking at a media briefing on Wednesday, GTU President Mark Lyte disclosed that “debunching,” which involves placing teachers into different categories and paying them accordingly, was agreed by the Ministry of Education in the 2006-2011 agreement. However, he stated that they have not received any money.

Lyte added that once again they included it in the 2011-2016 agreement and again after months of silence, they were told last Wednesday by Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon that the ministry will not be able to make the “debunching” payments to the teachers, as the money had never been budgeted for.

‘WORK TO RULE’ ACTION
As a result of this he announced that he is calling on all teachers across Guyana to commence from May 4 the ‘work to rule’ industrial action, which entails the teachers doing nothing extra for students, just their required day-to-day tasks.
That apart, he stated that the GTU is calling on teachers to go home if issues affecting them such as inadequate toilet facilities, improper working conditions, excessive number of students in a classroom and more are not addressed.

This industrial action, he said, will last until the Government adheres to their calls for the “debunching” payments. This action could even escalate to a full-scale strike if the need arises, he added.