-as GTU, ministry agree terms of resumption
By Abigail Headley
Striking teachers are set to return to their classrooms by next Tuesday after the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) reached an agreement yesterday on terms of resumption to end a gruelling strike and talks will continue on June 26 on a multi-year agreement.
A release yesterday from the Ministry of Education listed the terms of resumption as follows:
1. There shall be an end to the strike and full resumption of work by all teachers/educators within two working days.
2. There shall be no victimization by either party.
3. There shall be no loss of service for any teachers/educators.
4. Teachers/educators will return to their respective positions held before the strike.
5. There shall be no transfers upon resumption.
6. That the status quo ante shall prevail subject to any ruling which may emanate from extant legal proceedings between the two parties.
7. Upon the full resumption of work by teachers/ educators, conciliation will commence forthwith to determine whether the timeframe proposed by GTU, 2019-2023 or MOE 2024 and onwards should form part of a new multi-year agreement.
8. That both parties shall conduct discussions in accordance with the existing 1990
According to GTU Pre-sident, Mark Lyte, the union was able to agree on the terms of resumption, which include no victimization of teachers and no loss of seniority. Lyte also confirmed that teachers will be expected to resume duties in two working days following the signing of the agreement.
“Well… within two working days. The first working day after the signing would be Monday [and] the second working would be Tuesday. So at least by Tuesday…,” he said.
Prior to yesterday’s meeting, concerns were raised regarding teachers’ names possibly being struck off from the paysheet should they fail to show up to work on the last day of this school term and the first day of the September school year. When asked whether this was a reason for the union’s latest decision, Lyte pointed out that there is no policy document mandating a teacher’s presence at work on those specific days.
Documentation
“Several teachers raised that as a concern, but there is no documentation to say that a teacher has to be… there is no policy document to say a teacher has to be there first or last day, but the normal practice that we have seen in the past is that persons have had that happen to them. If they didn’t report on the first day or the last day. And this is something that a lot of teachers were concerned about. And they raised that during our consultation. So many of them had indicated that whether the strike was called off or not, they were going to resume duty on or before the last day,” he explained.
During previous meetings following the resumption of the strike on May 9, the union had as one of its terms of resumption demanded a 20% across-the-board increase. How-ever, the union has now agreed to forego this demand in order to allow the conciliation process to move forward.
When questioned further on why the interim pay demand was removed, Lyte explained that the union’s membership had agreed to allow the process to continue without it, and that the decision was made due to concerns about being stuck at school on the last day and first day of the academic year.
“That was the mandate we were given prior to the previous sets of meetings. During the lapse between June 10th and now, we went back to our membership to state the position that the government has adopted and the members would have indicated to us that they are prepared to allow… for the process to be followed, minus the interim payment or the cash grant. So, us coming back here to sign minus that clau[se] is at a direct result of new consultations that took place and the members have agreed that they are prepared to forego that to allow the conciliation process to commence,” he explained.
The agreement also includes a provision that there will be no transfers upon resumption, and that teachers will return to their respective positions held before the strike. Additionally, both parties have agreed to conduct discussions in accordance with the existing 1990 Memorandum of Agreement on avoiding and settling disputes.
When questioned on the status of the previously proposed periods for negotiation, the union president noted that they are on the agenda to be discussed during the conciliation meetings.
“What GTU has on the table is the same multi-year agreements; 2019-2023. And so the conciliation process will allow for us to agree on a timeline… we are not there as yet. We are entering, and both sides have committed, as you can see one of the clause[s] says that we are prepared to negotiate in good faith. So let’s see what that good faith can do,” Lyte said.
In the press release posted on its Facebook page yesterday afternoon, Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, expressed gratitude for the “swift and effective response” by the Ministry of Labour and particularly the Chief Labour Officer (CLO), Dhaneshwar Deonarine.
“The Ministry of Education would like to thank the parents, students, and the public for their patience and understanding during this period. We look forward to a smooth transition as teachers resume their critical roles in educating and nurturing the future leaders of Guyana. We have a county to build”, the release added.
A release from the Ministry of Labour said that during the signing, the CLO voiced his satisfaction that the parties were able to peacefully resolve the issue of the strike and move towards a solution that would be in everyone’s best interest.
“We are very happy that we were able to meet an agreement, and of course, given where we started and how we were going, it is good to see that the words that we constantly hear – trust and good faith – eventually came true in the end. The fact that we are about to sign this agreement is evidence of that,” he said.
The Ministry of Labour release said that the process adheres to the guidelines outlined in the 1990 Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) titled, “The Avoidance and Settlement of Disputes”, as well as the Labour Act, Chapter 98:01 of the Laws of Guyana.
The MOE and GTU will meet next Wednesday, June 26, 2024, to continue conciliation talks regarding the parameters of the Multi-Year Agreement.
The CLO will conciliate these negotiations as well, the release said.
Meanwhile, GTU General Secretary Coretta McDonald emphasized that the union is pleased with the agreement, but noted that it was not without its challenges. She stated that while teachers were concerned about their welfare, they were also aware of the impact their strike was having on students and parents. McDonald added that the union is committed to ensuring that teachers are treated fairly and equitably, and is willing to engage in further discussions with the government to achieve this goal.
Lengthy
The agreement comes after a lengthy strike that had been ongoing, in two segments, since February 5. When the first segment commenced the industrial action was accompanied by physical protests by teachers across the nation.
One day after the strike commenced, the MoE made its first move against teachers by announcing plans to stop deducting union dues. The MoE then took things a step further by vowing to cut the salaries of striking teachers on February 12, prompting the GTU to threaten and take legal action. Making good on its threat, the union filed a statement of claim against the government on February 14, and the government requested a 14-day extension to respond, which was granted.
The court granted the status quo to be maintained, stalling the deduction of strike days from teachers’ salaries and maintaining the deduction of union dues pending the outcome of the matter. This led to the judge asking why there were no talks between the two sides and eventually ordering mediation.
On February 27, Chief Education Officer Saddam Hussain was summoned to court for contempt after issuing a circular contradicting the court’s ruling. He apologized, and the judge suggested a mediation meeting between the two parties. The GTU readily agreed to this, and despite the ministry’s legal representative Anil Nandlall requesting more time, the judge ordered for the meeting to proceed with Senior Counsel Edward Luckhoo and Robin Stoby as mediators.
Several days of meetings led to the end of the first segment of the strike, but bilateral talks stalled over the negotiation period. On April 19, Justice Kissoon ruled that the strike was legal and justified, that deductions cannot be made from striking teachers’ salaries, and for union dues to be remitted.
Despite the court’s ruling on the latter, the union has indicated that there has since been no remittance of dues by the court. As such, Lyte noted that legal action will be taken by the union against the government, citing the non-remittance to be in contempt of the court order.
After his ruling, there was no further engagement between the government and the union and, since both sides stuck to their positions, the second segment of industrial action commenced on May 9. Upon the announcement of the impending resumption of strike, on the night of May 8 the MOE announced that it had written to the Ministry of Labour, seeking its intervention, after indicating that there has been a breakdown in negotiations with the GTU. At this, the Labour Ministry swiftly moved on the MOE’s behalf and called for a meeting with the two parties.
As such, whilst the teachers remained at home in observance of their strike action, there was a series of meetings between the union and the Education Ministry during which time the union presented its terms of resumption, with the 20% interim payoff among those listed. The ministry refused to agree to this and instead cited that teachers must resume duties before any agreements could be made. This, along with the fact that both parties were unable to agree on a new multi-year agreement, led to those meetings ending in a deadlock.
Last Monday, after the GTU reached out to the Ministry of Labour the week before, the union and the MOE again met for one final meeting. This time around, the union presented its updated proposal for negotiation talks to be focused on the 2022-2023 timeframe. This fresh proposal was slated to be reviewed by the ministry, after which the Ministry of Labour would again convene a meeting between the two, for decisions. Up to that time, the GTU had maintained its demand for the 20% across-the-board payment and Lyte had indicated that this would not change.
The strike had resulted in significant disruptions to education services across Guyana, with the Education Ministry issuing a circular which stated that end-of-term examinations would be replaced by continuous assessments. On Monday, it would be 77 days since the teachers have been on strike.
The current school year ends on July 5.
GTU Head Mark Lyte (left) shakes hands with Ministry of Education Permanent Secretary Shannielle Hoosein-Outar while Chief Labour Officer Dhaneshwar Deonarine looks on. (Ministry of Education photo)
