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GTU seeks Court order to compel Govt. to negotiate retroactive salary increase
Kaieteur News – The Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) applied to the High Court on Friday for an order of mandamus mandating the government to engage in collective bargaining from 2019 to 2023. The GTU is also seeking a disclosure of correspondence with the Ministry of Education as it relates to the Collective Bargaining discussions.
GTU President, Dr. Mark Lyte
In the application, the GTU through Attorney Daren Wade, asked the Court to order that the Chief Education Officer (CEO), Saddam Hussain and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Shannielle Hoosein-Outar be held in contempt of Court for refusing to discuss Collective Bargaining for the period 2019-2023 in good faith.
In its application the Union submitted to the court that “Mr. Sadam Hussain, Chief Education Officer, and Mrs. Shannielle Hoosein-Outar, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, under 5.06 of the Civil Procedure Rules, violated the court’s order and acted in bad faith by, refusing to engage in negotiations for the period of 2019-2023”.
The GTU wants the Court to declare that the minutes dated 7th March 2024 for the meeting between the GTU and the Education Ministry, created a binding agreement, and that the agreement arising from the minutes created a legitimate expectation.
It also wants the Court to direct the Education Ministry to disclose all correspondences with the Union.
The Union explained that following the Court-ordered mediation process, the Chief Education Officer, who identified himself as the Chief Negotiator for the Education Ministry, agreed on the 7th March that the two sides would discuss salary increases for the period 2019-2023.
“The reneging of the agreement, to discuss collective bargaining from 2019-2023, is contemptuous. The reneging of the agreement, to discuss collective bargaining from 2019-2023, is in breach of article 147 of the Constitution of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana,” GTU argued.
The application comes after one week of discussions between the Ministry of Education and the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) over salary increases collapsed.
The GTU and Education Ministry had agreed to engage in talks towards solving teachers’ salary woes following the Court-appointed mediation process. The mediation was also geared towards bringing an end to five weeks of protest and industrial action led by teachers across the country.
During an emergency press conference held last Tuesday at the GTU’s headquarters on Woolford Avenue, President of GTU, Dr. Mark Lyte, told the media that the Union will be heading back to the High Court in wake of a breakdown. Dr. Lyte accused the Ministry of Education of reneging on an earlier agreement that the two sides would discuss salary increases for teachers for the period 2019-2023 in accordance with the multi-year agreement.
Dr. Lyte told members of the media that “We are going to take this matter back to the Court for the Court to adjudicate on the matter. We are at present, in consultation with our lawyers, and we believe that reneging on the first position taken, and the legitimacy of the signed agreement coming out of the first meeting is placing this administration as one that we cannot trust.”
He explained that the negotiations fizzled after the Education Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Shannielle Hoosein- Outar, showed up at the meeting to introduce herself as the “chief negotiator” for the Government and making it clear that the Government has no intention to discuss a wage package for the period 2019-2023.
Dr. Lyte noted this was after the Chief Education Officer during the first meeting identified himself as the “chief negotiator” for the Education Ministry, and consulted with his superiors before agreeing that the talks on increase salaries would be done based on the multi-year agreement 2019-2023.
“We were not even settled when the permanent secretary indicated that the Government will not negotiate as agreed on at last Thursday’s meeting from 2019-2023…The Union resolutely put forward its position that we are not interested in discussing any multi-year proposal from 2024 and beyond because we have not submitted such,” Dr. Lyte had said.
- Chief Education Officer, Dr. Mark Lyte, Education Ministry, GTU President, Mrs. Shannielle Hoosein-Outar, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education
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