GEORGETOWN, Guyana - The Guyana government says the demands by the union representing teachers for a 20 percent interim pay increase before ending their industrial action, reflects a lack of interest in conciliation and resolving issues beforehand.
Teachers protest on Tuesday (File Photo)“We wanted to include an interim payout to teachers before we resume school and have the situation normal so we put on the table an interim percentage increase while we meet to discuss what will be the final numbers,” president of the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU), Dr. Mark Lyte told reporters.
The teachers are continuing their industrial action after the two days of talks earlier this week involving the Chief Labour Officer, Dhaneshwar Deonarine, had limited success. The talks will resume on Monday.
“The major issue had been the years; I think we have moved pass that and we are looking at some other things that are on the table presently,” Lyte had said on Wednesday.
But the Ministry of Education, which called for conciliation, noted that the 1990 Memorandum of Agreement signed with the GTU bars any form of industrial action by the union during conciliation.
In a statement on Wednesday, the ministry said the GTU was demanding an interim payout of a 20 percent increase in salaries before the strike is called off to allow for conciliation of the core dispute by the Chief Labour Officer.
At issue is the GTU’s demand for negotiations for a new multi-year agreement from 2019 to 2023 and the education ministry’s insistence on only a multi-year agreement from 2024.
Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall SC, said the demand reflects a lack of interest in conciliation and resolving issues beforehand. He said there is need for both parties to engage in good faith and adhere to the principles of conciliation.
“In order for the conciliation to even start, you have to go back to work,” Nandlall told the state-owned National Communications Network (NCN).
“But the union has now imposed upon the conciliation, a regime of demands, which they are saying, must be addressed, before the conciliation even begins. Now, that is in bad faith [and] that is contrary to the principles of conciliation, and may very well be unlawful.”
Nandlall said the government cannot grant an increase for the period of 2019-2023 due to various valid reasons, including the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic on economies worldwide.
He said that while many countries were cutting the salaries of its workers, the government continued to pay teachers even when they were not physically present at work.
The Attorney General said he believes that the union’s demands for an impossible increase reveal ulterior motives and a lack of seriousness about conciliation, which seeks to create unrest in the education sector
“The mask I think fell off, from the face of the union, when, it went to the table, during this conciliation, and superimposed a series of demands, even before the conciliation starts. And in terms of salary… the mask has come off.
“This union has illustrated, even to those who were in support of it, that they are not serious about conciliation. They are not serious about resolving, any impasse. This industrial action is not a bona fide, one. It is, influenced, by, other considerations,” he added.
