The Ministry of Education has announced there will be a resumption of duties by public school teachers across the country. This development comes after conciliation efforts facilitated by the Ministry of Labour.
In a statement the Ministry of Education said on May 12 it wrote the Ministry of Labour seeking assistance in mediating the ongoing discussions with the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) after there had been a breakdown in negotiations between the Ministry and the GTU regarding the question of which years the new multi-year agreement should address.
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 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 terms of the agreement are 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
The teachers strike arose from government refusal to engage their Union in collective Bargaining. In August 2020 the Union submitted a multi-year proposal for increased wages/salary and improved working conditions. The Court on April 19 upheld the teachers’ right to collective bargaining.
The months-long strike would likely see further increase in learning loss.
