Teachers want 20% pay hike before returning to classrooms

May 16, 2024 News

Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand during her press conference on Wednesday alongside officials of her ministry.

– ministry says request unreasonable

Kaieteur News – The Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) on Wednesday revealed that it requested from the government an interim 20 percent across-the-board pay increase for teachers before it ends the strike and teachers resume their duties in the classroom.

The Union revealed this in a statement it issued which documented details and conditions they made during a two-day (Monday 13 & Tuesday 14) conciliation process with officials of the Ministry of Education, which was held in the presence of the Chief Labour Officer (CLO).

During the two days of meetings, GTU in its statement said they presented a detailed proposal outlining the conditions for resuming duties and commencing conciliations for determining the period for which negotiations are to be taken on. Of the terms they put forward, GTU listed that they proposed for the interim 20 percent payment to be made immediately to teachers, for there to be no victimization, no loss of service, transfers, or demotions of teachers upon resumption of duties, for negotiations to commence within 72 hours of resumption and take place over a six-week period, for the establishment of an arbitration tribunal if negotiations fail within the stipulated period, and for the recusal of the Minister of Labour, Joseph Hamilton from the negotiation process due to perceived lack of integrity and impartiality.

“Unfortunately, the Ministry of Education has shown no interest in considering the Union’s requests or engaging in meaningful conciliations to resolve the ongoing strike. Despite the GTU’s efforts to reach a reasonable compromises, the MOE has remained steadfast in their refusal to negotiate a collective labour agreement for the period 2019-2023, which is the core grievance prompting the strike,” the union expressed.

Meanwhile, in addressing GTU’s pay hike proposal, the government through Ministry of Education has labeled the demand as “unreasonable” and “unacceptable.” This is according to the Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand who noted during a press conference on Wednesday that the GTU has breached an agreement made between the parties not to speak publicly on the contents of the meetings while the matter is being conciliated. The conciliation process was initiated by the Education Ministry in keeping with the grievance procedure as documented in the 1990 Memorandum of Agreement signed by the Ministry and the Teachers’ Union. The ministry had sought to engage in conciliation due to the impasse in respect of the timeframe for the new multi-year agreement.

This publication had reported that the GTU has been calling on the government to hike teachers’ salaries and have since put a multi-year agreement 2019-2023 to the government for consideration. The government has since refused to accept the proposal, noting that it is only prepared to engage the Union on salary matters from 2024 onwards.

Reiterating that it was the timeframe that is being discussed, the minister said during her press conference that on Monday both parties had agreed on three out of four terms for the resumption agreement. “The parties deliberated and agreed on: there shall be an end of the strike by teachers and full resumption of work by all teachers within 48 hours, there shall be no victimization by either party, there shall be no break in service and the status quo ante shall prevail,” she said.

Having agreed on these three terms and with other terms left to discuss, the minister explained that on Tuesday, the GTU suddenly then presented a two-page document dated 13th May, 2024 which included a list of demands to be met before the resumption agreement could be signed.

Noting that the demands are unusual and unacceptable, the Minister on Wednesday made it clear that the government would not have an engagement where negotiations are happening under duress.

“The GTU’s insistence that an across the board 20% be paid before any talks can happen is duress. Given the GTU’s many years as a trade union body, they must know that this is unusual, unacceptable, unreasonable and would result in the breakdown in talks,” she related.

She noted also that it is clear that teachers’ welfare is not the paramount consideration for the Guyana Teachers’ Union. “Teachers are being used as pawns in a much larger, politically directed plot. This is destructive and sad,” she pointed out.

Kaieteur News understands that both parties are expected to meet again on Monday 20th May, 2024 at 1pm to continue the conciliation. Asked what will happen on Monday since GTU breached its confidentiality agreement, the minister stated that it is very difficult to say what will occur, but she noted that the government is not going to sit at the table with these kinds of unreasonable demands and accede to them. “It will be very, very bad precedent not only for the Guyana Government, but for governments across the region, if we were to allow this to happen,” she highlighted.

Manickchand added that with what is unfolding, “Nowhere in the world would anyone allow a gun to be held to the employers before that process (conciliation) could happen”.

She however said that the GTU still has space to return to the table come Monday and come back to a reasonable place that is in keeping with how industrial relations usually proceed after a period of strike.

Government, Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU), interim, Joseph Hamilton, Minister of Labour

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