GTU, ministry talks collapse
-after deadlock over years for negotiation
The GTU yesterday announced the collapse of talks with the Ministry of Education (MoE) while the latter accused the union of walking out again on the collective bargaining process.
Following four weeks of strike action which ended after court-appointed mediation, the way ahead yesterday was not immediately clear but the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) is adamant that it will stay the course.
Talks stalemated over the years for negotiations – the union demanding 2019 to 2023 while the government is only prepared to consider 2024 onwards.
At a hurriedly called press conference yesterday morning, GTU President Mark Lyte expressed frustration with the MoE’s refusal to negotiate on salaries for the period of 2019-2023. The year 2019 marked the end of the last negotiated agreement.
According to Lyte, during yesterday’s negotiation meeting between the union and ministry, Permanent Secretary (PS) of the MoE Shannielle Hoosein-Outar, who was absent for the previous meeting on Thursday, showed up and announced that the MoE will not be negotiating salaries between 2019 and 2023.
Hoosein-Outar, who led the meeting as Chief Negotiator, reiterated the ministry’s position that any discussions on salary increases for the previous years would have financial implications and that the budget for 2024 does not have the fiscal space to accommodate retroactive payments.
Lyte noted that from the inception of the meetings, Chief Education Officer (CEO) Saddam Hussain played the role of Chief Negotiator, but conceded this position to HooseinOutar when she showed up yesterday. No explanation was given by the MoE yesterday on why the PS was absent from the previous meeting.
“The first thing we noticed when we got into the room this morning [yesterday], was that there was an additional member on the side of the government in the form of the Permanent Secretary. Mind you, we made it very clear that the Permanent Secretary, being the Finance Officer for the Ministry of Education should have been in the room from the first day… and the Permanent Secretary indicated that the government will not negotiate as agreed on in the last minutes, from 2019... The CEO apologised for his misunderstanding… And also stated he was not aware that he was not the Chief Negotiator.
The Thursday talks as enshrined in the agreed minutes had ended with understanding that 2019 to 2023 salaries would be on the table. However, on Thursday night, Hussain reeled back in what was contained in the minutes and insisted that the government’s position remained that salary talks would relate to 2024 and onwards.
The MoE, through the
PS, yesterday further requested the GTU to submit a proposal for a multiyear agreement starting in 2024.
“We find that the PS was very disrespectful in saying that we can go back to our members and put together a multi-year proposal for 2024 and beyond to suit the narrative of the government. At this juncture, the Guyana Teachers’ Union will be informing its members on the way forward and… we have decided that our members are going to utilise the means that is possible to show the administration that we will not be bullied in any negotiation or discussion,” Lyte said.
In its statement the MoE emphasized its willingness to continue dialogue with the GTU and highlighted the various initiatives and salary adjustments that have benefited teachers in previous years.
“Today’s meeting reached an impasse after the GTU indicated that they are only interested in discussing salaries, particularly between the period of 2019 – 2023 and nothing else.
“The GTU maintained its determination to only discuss salary matters in relation to the prior years and refused to address the other 25 matters which were identified by both the Ministry of Education and the Union for discussion. This resulted in the