Two academic years later…Teachers’ remuneration talks still incomplete

Aug 31, 2017 News

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Two academic years have passed and the Ministry of Education is yet to conclude a process of negotiation with the Guyana Teachers Union [GTU] for a new remuneration package for public school teachers.

The last agreement that the GTU had inked with the Ministry expired in December, 2015. Moreover, the union had presented to the Ministry a new proposal for which negotiations had commenced under former Permanent Secretary, Ms. Delma Nedd.
However, with Government’s decision to reshuffle some Permanent Secretaries earlier this year, Nedd was replaced by Mr. Vibert Welch.
But according to GTU President, Mr. Mark Lyte, while there were some postponed sessions of the negotiations under Nedd, the situation under Welch has been completely unacceptable.
In fact he told this newspaper yesterday that the union is currently “extremely frustrated,” since it has been unable to meet or even communicate by way of telephone with Welch for several months.
“Since March month we have not had discussions…we had written to the Permanent Secretary twice and we called several times but we have gotten nowhere…there has been no formal response regarding the status of our discussions,” lamented the GTU President yesterday.
An irked Lyte considered that “school will be reopening on Monday [September 4] and the GTU is not au fait with any plans for meeting in the near future, since nothing formal has emanated from the PS’s office.”
The GTU President is however suspicious that there might be ‘more in the mortar than the pestle’. “I think that something is happening above the heads of these individuals [at the Ministry] that seems to be creating the stall of the negotiation. I don’t see why the PS would say in March we would meet in two weeks and it is now coming to the end of August and still no talks,” Lyte considered.
“We are writing and we can’t get him; when you try to call you are not getting through…from our end we are very concerned that it has been two academic years and there is literally no agreement in place for our teachers,” Lyte said.
The Ministry in September, 2016, paid public school teachers increases of 10 and six percent. But Lyte underscored yesterday that the Ministry had assured the Union that that payment was an interim payment pending the outcome of the continued talks.
But a second academic year has come to an end and there seems to be no end in sight when it comes to the negotiation. In fact Lyte said he is perturbed that there seems to be no consideration for the valiant task that teachers have to educate the nation.
“Our teachers have been going without an adequate increase of salaries for two years, without the other non-salary benefits such as duty free concession. Hinterland and riverine teachers have not been receiving the hard-line allowance that they deserve…our teachers are going without a lot of things that are included in the agreement,” said Lyte.
In addition to its non-salary features, the Union’s proposal suggests a 40 percent across the board increase for teachers for last year, a 45 percent increase for this year and 50 percent for the following three years (2018-2020) for all categories of teachers.
It also takes into consideration inflation and had made it clear that “should there be inflation higher than the percentage agreed upon, then the teachers/teacher-educators must get the benefit of the difference.”
But with no action forthcoming to even adopt an altered version of the agreement, Lyte said that the Union will have no choice than to signal its discontentment by some means of retaliation. However, the form of retaliation that the Union is likely to embrace will not be the usual industrial action.
Lyte confided, “I see a number of activities being affected if we don’t have forward movement in terms of the negotiation. If it means we have to pull back on our involvement in some areas we will, and you know if teachers pull back involvement in activities such as the schools’ championship [sports] and Mashramani activities, they will in no way be a success because we carry those activities.”
Moreover, Lyte hinted to the convening of a special general council meeting by the GTU where a formal decision will be made on the tactic that the Union will embrace.
But taking action, according to Lyte, will be dependent on the response, or the lack thereof, to yet another letter that was inked and slated to be sent off yesterday to the Permanent Secretary. Copies of the letter are expected to be sent to President David Granger, Minister of State Joseph Harmon and Minister of Education, Nicolette Henry.
According to a passionate Lyte, “The letter is just another reminder that we need at least a response on the way forward…our teachers deserve to know where they stand.”

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