The conciliation process between the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the GTU came to an end yesterday with the two sides agreeing to move forward with multi-year talks from 2024 onwards, prompting questions about the dramatic shift in position by the teachers’ union.
According to statements released by both parties, the conciliation process concluded with the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) proposing a new timeline for a multi-year agreement covering the period from 2024 to 2026. The MOE has agreed to this timeframe, and bilateral talks will now begin on July 11 at 10:30 AM.
The GTU had initially sought a four-year period from 2019-2023 for negotiations while the government had always proposed a timeframe of 2024 onwards. As negotiations progressed, the union amended its proposal to a four-year period beginning from 2022, which was also rejected by the government.
During a brief telephone interview with this newspaper, GTU President Mark Lyte explained that the union’s members asked their leaders to accept the period and present a new proposal, which they did. When pressed for details on the new proposal, Lyte stated that he would release more information at an appropriate time.
“I will release a copy to the public at the appropriate time,” he said.
The agreement comes after teachers were urged, on June 21, to return to the classroom, after the union and government reached an accord to engage in conciliation talks for 21 days. It means therefore the period 2019 to 2023 has been considered settled. For 2020 to 2023, the government imposed increases and did not convene collective bargaining with the GTU. Not all teachers are pleased with yesterday’s outcome. On the GTU’s Facebook page, some teachers expressed their disappointment and regret at having taken part in the over 10-week strike for collective bargaining.
Despite this, the GTU has assured its members and the general public that its negotiating team is well-positioned to present a strong case for increased salaries and other benefits to its members. The union further thanked its members for their resilience, support, and commitment throughout the process and said it believes that a speedy resolution is in the best interest of all Guyanese.
“The GTU wishes to thank members for their resilience, support, and commitment throughout the process. We believe that the members’ wishes must be respected at all times and that a speedy resolution is in the best interest of all Guyanese.
“The union assures its members and the general public that our negotiating team is well-positioned to present a strong case for increased salaries and other benefits to our members,” the union said in its statement.
The MOE, in its statement, also expressed its satisfaction with the outcome of the conciliation process and reiterated its commitment to serving teachers in various ways and having their best interests at heart.
“The Ministry of Educa-tion will continue to serve teachers in various ways and continues to have the best interest of teach-ers at heart,” the statement said.
Resumption
On June 21, the Ministry of Education announced that there would be a resumption of duties by teachers across the country.
This development, it said in a statement, came after “successful conciliation efforts” facilitated by the Ministry of Labour, following a formal request for intervention by the Ministry of Education.
The Ministry of Education had written to the Ministry of Labour on May 12, 2024 seeking their assistance in mediating the ongoing discussions with the GTU after there had been a breakdown in talks between the Ministry and the GTU regarding the question of which years the new multi-year agreement should address.
The statement said that the request was made pursuant to the provisions of the 1990 Memorandum of Agreement “the avoidance and settlement of disputes” between the Government of Guyana and the Guyana Teachers’ Union and the Labour Act, Cap. 98:01, which allows the impasse in respect of the timeframe to be referred to the Labour Minister for Conciliation.
A meeting was held on Monday, June 13, 2024 at the Ministry of Labour and was mediated by the Chief Labour Officer.
Several meetings were held over the course of the past weeks. The statement noted that the GTU had been demanding a 20 percent across-the-board increase before resuming conciliation talks; however, the Ministry had rejected that claim as abnormal in the circumstances and an attempt to place the ministry under duress.
Further meetings were held which led to an agreement for teachers to resume their duties.
The GTU’s February 5th strike was slated for 10 days but eventually lasted for 29 days and was later followed by an interim court order after government threatened to subtract monies from the teachers’ salaries and cease union dues deductions. Court-ordered mediation allowed for engagement between the two parties, however, talks between the Ministry of Education and the GTU collapsed days after the mediation was ordered.
Justice Sandil Kissoon later ruled that the strike launched by the union for collective bargaining was legal and justified and therefore the state was barred from making deductions from the salaries of striking teachers.
Attorney General Anil Nandlall SC, who represented the state in the matter, subsequently announced that the state will be appealing the judge’s decision.
The strike resumed after the failure of talks and on May 12th, on the eve of the resumption of the strike, the MOE sought the intervention of the Ministry of Labour for conciliation. After several meetings, an agreement was reached on June 21st for teachers to return to their classrooms while talks continued, resulting in yesterday’s agreement on the period to be negotiated.
