The Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) yesterday protested over the absence of a multi-year agreement – though a meeting had been scheduled for later in the afternoon – drawing a sharp response from the Ministry of Education and a warning.
In explaining the protest action outside of the Ministry of Finance, GTU President, Mark Lyte, stated that the issue has been stretched out for too many years and it’s time the government and the union come to an agreement.
He noted that union representatives met with three Government Ministers in April and shared their concerns. Most of them dealt with the financial issues related to the last multiyear agreement, the two per cent difference for 2017; the de-bunching matter that should have been implemented by now; the issues of salary anomalies dating back to 2017; the nonpayment of the clothing allowance; the clause which speaks to the benefit rolling over without them having to come to the table to negotiate once again and not having a collective bargaining agreement.