Industrial Relations

Former firebrand trade unionist with the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU), medical doctor Anwar Hussein has died, his employer, the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) said on Monday. The NIS described Dr Hussain, its Medical Advisor, as someone who was “an invaluable part of our organization, whose dedication and commitment left a lasting impact on all who worked with him.” He ...

Two trade unionists from affiliates of the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) are asking the High Court to stop the Constitutional Reform Commission (CRC) from carrying out its functions because the labour movement was not consulted about who should be the workers’ representative. Filed through their lawyer, Roysdale Forde, 2nd Vice President of the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU), Julian Cambridge ...

The Ministry of Education on Sunday declared a deadlock in salary talks with the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) and officially asked the Ministry of Labour to mediate between the two sides, one day before striking teachers were expected to take to the streets. “Pursuant to the provisions of the 1990 Memorandum of Agreement “the avoidance and settlement of disputes” between ...

The teachers’ strike that resumed on Thursday is seeking to force government to go to arbitration for increased salaries for 2019 to 2023, President of the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU), Dr Mark Lyte said Friday. “We are at a stage where the union has to find a way to force the action and force the hand of the powers-that-be to ...

Lawyers associated with the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), who won a High Court case for the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) and the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC), on May 1—Labour Day—called on workers to use that decision as the plank for street protests. GTU’s lawyer Darren Wade believed that workers could use Justice Sandil Kissoon’s decision that the 29-day ...

Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall on Friday said the Guyana government would be appealing a High Court decision that declared that a teachers strike earlier this year was “lawful and legitimate” because government denied them their right to constitutional right to collective bargaining. “These are vacuous conclusions and that is why it has to be appealed,” ...

Guyana’s High Court on Friday ruled that teachers’ strike earlier this year was justified as their constitutionally enshrined fundamental right to collective bargaining was violated by the employer-the government- and so they could not lose pay for days off the job. Justice Sandil Kissoon declared that the government of Guyana, as the employer, has engaged in acts which constitute substantial ...

–Yarde refuses to talk about repeated failure to take industrial action The Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) on Thursday said it dispatched a letter to the Ministry of Labour threatening industrial action and asking for conciliation, saying that there is a deadlock after three years of efforts to secure collective bargaining with the government for increased salaries and better working ...

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 ...

Although the Ministry of Education has publicly ruled out negotiating a 2019-2023 salary increase, the Guyana Teachers’ Union says it expects a counter-proposal when the two sides meet again on Tuesday. “When we go back to the meeting on Tuesday, our expectation is that government will bring a position to the table to say ‘look, we’re offering this percentage for ...