Over 100 striking teachers turned up in front of Region Three’s Department of Education yesterday morning as they continued to press their case for hikes in wages as well as non-salary benefits.
“We nah wuk, we nah wuk ’til we get we increase, fine am fine am and give we…,’ ‘Ting- a-ling-a-ling, no school bell gon’ ring ‘til Henry give we, we pay…,’ and ‘Solidarity forever because the union makes us strong,” were some of the chants heard while the teachers, armed with umbrellas and bottles of water outside the Vreed-en-Hoop office, indicated that they wanted their concerns addressed.
Currently, the Ministry of Education and the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) are at an impasse in their negotiation of what was thought to be a multi-year agreement addressing wages and benefits. As a result, a strike that began in the pre-term has continued into the start of the new school year.