The government and the GTU are to resume discussions tomorrow under the aegis of the Ministry of Social Protection in a bid to end the teachers strike that has roiled the new school year since Monday.
Among the first matters likely to be addressed would be the Guyana Teachers’ Union’s view that the Ministry cannot perform the conciliation function and that the deadlock between the two sides should move immediately to arbitration which would then settle the dispute and be binding on both sides.
Hundreds of school teachers across the country have struck in support of their union’s wage demands. The government has mobilized trainee teachers and volunteers to fill the gaps but it appears that many classes have been disrupted and some schools do not have teachers teaching at all.
The fruitless talks between the two sides have been running for over two years.