Teachers’ Union asks High Court to order collective bargaining for 2019-2023 salaries

Last Updated on Friday, 15 March 2024, 15:47 by Denis Chabrol

The Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) on Friday asked the High Court to order the Guyana government to engage in collective bargaining for salaries for 2019 to 2023, three days after talks between the two sides collapsed.

The union’s resort to the court through its lawyer, Darren Wade follows the position by the Ministry of Education that the budget does not cater for salary increases for those years and, instead, recommended that the GTU proceeds with negotiations of a multi-year agreement from 2024.

The GTU, in court papers, is also asking the High Court to declare that that bargaining agent has a right to negotiation within that period of 2019-2023, and the refusal to negotiate for the period 2019-2023 constitutes a breach of the GTU and its members right to collective bargaining under article 147 of the Constitution of Guyana.

Further, the GTU wants the High Court to declare that the minutes dated 7^th March 2024, created a binding agreement, for negotiations to be held for 2019-2023 and that that agreement arising from the minutes dated 7 March 2024, created legitimate expectation.

The union is requesting the High Court to order Chief Education Officer Saddam Hussain and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Mrs. Shannielle Hoosein-Outar, to be held  in contempt of court, for unwillingness and bad faith for refusing to discuss collective bargaining for the period 2019-2023.

An order directing the Ministry of Education to disclose all correspondences, between the GTU and the Ministry of Education, as it relates to the collective bargaining discussions as claimed by the Ministry of Education or in the alternative to disclose whether or not there are any is also being sought.

The Court papers also rebut the Permanent Secretary’s position that she, as Chief Negotiator, would not negotiate pay increases from 2019-2023. “Over the years by the practice the government, through supplementary budgets have accessed additional funds or to monies that were spent parliamentary approval,” the GTU said in it court document.