Education Ministry, GTU to meet on arbitration panel nominees on Tuesday

The Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) and the Ministry of Education (MoE) are set to meet on Tuesday in another attempt to set up a panel to arbitrate their wage dispute.

A press statement from the Ministry of Social Protection (MoSP) explained that the two parties have been invited to identify individually their nominee for the panel.

According to the release, the invitation follows a “request made by the Ministry of Education which has expressed a willingness to have these differences resolved amicably and speedily.”

An earlier statement from MoSP noted that it had been approached by the MoE to nominate the Chairman, in keeping with the provisions of the extant Collective Labour Agreement between GTU and MoE.

The Memorandum of Agreement between the MoE and GTU for the avoidance and settlement of disputes specifically states “the arbitration panel shall comprise of one member nominated by the union, one member nominated by the Ministry and a Chairman mutually agreed upon by both parties. The Ministry of Labour shall nominate the chairman in the event the parties fail to reach agreement.”

GTU General Secretary Coretta McDonald has noted that while the agreement does provide for the MoSP to nominate a chairperson, the nomination can be accepted or refused.

The union has proposed former Minister of Foreign Affairs Rashleigh Jackson, former Minister of Education Jeffrey Thomas and Dr. Aubrey Armstrong as possible chairs, but they were all rejected “without reason” by ministry representatives.

Armstrong is best known for his chairmanship of the 1999 Arbitration Tribunal between the Guyana Public Service Union, the Federated Union of Government Employees and the Government of Guyana.

The MoE, for its part, proposed Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Public Telecommunications Derrick Cummings, and Glendon Harris, the Human Resources Manager of the Guyana Revenue Authority.

According to GTU President Mark Lyte, these men were rejected by the union on the basis that they are serving members of the public service, hence government functionaries. Therefore, to select either as chair is to create a situation of conflict of interest, he said.

McDonald questioned whether the government was serious about a resolution, while Lyte expressed the opinion that the Ministry’s representatives were attempting to stall the process. “It is discouraging that the ministry would put forward names that the smallest child would reject as unsuitable. It seems to be an attempt to stall the process or frustrate us. It really seemed as if the representatives were trying to play games,” he declared.

This belief has been bolstered by the letter which was sent to MoSP by the MoE. According to McDonald, though the meeting ended after working hours on September 14, the letter carried the same date. “It is clear just from this letter that is was their intention to go this route but we will hold the line” McDonald stressed.