Teachers Union asks Chief Labour Officer to intervene in salary dispute

Last Updated on Monday, 25 September 2023, 19:03 by Denis Chabrol

Faced with no progress in negotiations for at least a 20 percent increase in teachers’ salaries as well as other benefits, the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) has formally asked the Ministry of Labour to help break the deadlock, according to letters.

GTU General Secretary Coretta Mc Donald on September 21, 2023 notified Chief Labour Officer, Dhaneshwar Deonarine that the union wants to activate stage three – the conciliation process “based on unsatisfactory settlement at the level of the Ministry of Education.” That letter was copied to several persons including Minister of Education Priya Manickchand, Minister of Labour Joseph Hamilton, Chief Education Officer Saddam Hussain and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education Shanielle E, Hoosein-Outar.

GTU President Mark Lyte told Demerara Waves Online News that the union wants the Chief Labour Officer to “intervene to find a common ground” between the workers’ representative and the Education Ministry “so that our salary matter can be resolved.”

He said if  Mr Deonarine is unable to bring the two sides back to the bargaining table, the GTU would move to arbitration. “If within 14 days he is unable to do that, then we will write asking for an arbitrator to be assigned to the matter- someone who we consider neutral, agreed on by both sides to arbitrate on the salary increase for teachers,” he said.

In a separate letter to Ms Hoosein-Outar, the GTU General Secretary informed that the union submitted its multi-year proposal to the Ministry of Education in August 2020 but so far there has been no counter-proposal by the end of September 2020 even after the government changed.

“Consequently, to date we are still awaiting that counter-proposal,” several copies of which had been sent to the office of the Permanent Secretary, Ms Mc Donald told the Permanent Secretary. The trade unionist also told the Permanent Secretary that consequently, the GTU has “activated”stage three of the conciliation process in keeping with the April 10, 1990 memorandum of agreement “and awaits an amicabe settlement emanating from the Ministry of Labour.”

Ms Mc Donald explained to Demerara Waves Online News said the GTU was asking for 20 percent for and 19 and 25 percent for subsequent years based on the inflation rate. She said the union was not expecting government to agree to the union’s demands “but, of course, we are not going to settle on a single digit” for the period 2019 to 2023. She said after talks with Minister of Governance and Parliamentary Affairs, Gail Teixeira , on behalf of President Irfaan Ali, representatives of the Ministry of Education said in separate talks that “there is nothing they can do; they can’t make any commitment.”

“Our fear is that we’re going to end up with another year of an imposition of a salary increase,” she added. Teachers’ uniform allowance has stuck at GY$8,000 pre 2015.

Meanwhile, the GTU General Secretary said government also owes teachers “hundreds of millions of dollars” in outstanding differences in salaries between experienced and long-serving teachers and new, junior teachers. She said the union was exploring a number of options, including legal action, to force government to pay the monies.

The Guyana Trades Union Congress and all its affiliates, Caribbean Union of Teachers, Education International and the Canadian Teachers’ Federation have also been alerted about the latest developments in the pay dispute.