AFTER hours of conciliation talks between the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) and senior officials from the Ministry of Education on Monday, representatives from both parties expressed optimism.
“We’re optimistic,” Guyana’s Chief Education Officer (CEO) Saddam Hussein told reporters after four hours of talks with representatives of the GTU.
The conciliation proceedings spearheaded by the Ministry of Labour started on Monday morning and following a brief break, resumed later in the afternoon.
The Ministry of Labour later announced that talks will resume today. Despite the ongoing process, GTU’s President Mark Lyte said industrial action by teachers will continue.
The conciliation talks between the Ministry of Education and the GTU arose from a stalemate in negotiations between the two bodies regarding the parameters of a multi-year salary agreement.
Representatives of the GTU and the Education Ministry had a meeting in March to resume the collective bargaining process, which had been interrupted by a strike in February.
At that meeting, the ministry upheld the government’s position that discussions surrounding salary increases should be from 2024 onwards.
The ministry had explained that increases for the prior years would have financial implications, and the 2024 budget does not have the fiscal space to facilitate the retroactive payment of salaries for teachers during the period of 2019 to 2023, which the GTU has requested.
“We expect that when we come to the table, either party or both parties can bend, lean forward, lean backward, give, take, so that we arrive at a position that resolves in a win, win,” GTU’s General Secretary, Coretta McDonald said during an invited comment to the media on Monday.
Labour Minister Joseph Hamilton, in a previous interview, had declared any strike action currently underway as illegal.
He emphasised that the principles of labour legislation apply universally to all employees and employers.
He clarified that despite the ongoing strike, engagements between the Government of Guyana and the GTU have never ceased.
Hamilton underscored that treating the teachers’ strike differently from other labour relations matters is unwarranted, as teachers, like other employees, have an employer—the Ministry of Education—and are subject to the same labour laws.
The minister expressed frustration with the GTU’s behaviour, accusing them of withdrawing from negotiations and behaving in a manner akin to a child.
“In most labour relations matters no one gets all of the things that they ask for; somehow, the people who represent the teachers feel that they must get all the things that they ask for,” he had said.
