The Guyana Teachers Union’s (GTU) long-running dispute with the Government over the deduction and remittance of union dues has taken on a wider Caribbean dimension, with the regional teachers’ body mobilising international support for the GTU and calling on Guyana to comply with a court order.
The Caribbean Union of Teachers (CUT) has launched a regional and international campaign in support of the GTU, urging its member organisations, trade-union affiliates, civil society groups and international labour allies to speak out over the dispute.
The campaign centres on the Government’s decision to discontinue the longstanding system under which union dues are deducted from teachers’ salaries and remitted to the GTU. The CUT says the move has undermined the union’s financial stability, independence and ability to function.
The regional body is now demanding that the Government restore the check-off arrangement.
“We urgently call on the Government of Guyana to act responsibly, honour the rule of law, respect the decisions of its own judiciary, and immediately reinstate the check-off dues process,”
the CUT said.
The GTU has welcomed the intervention, arguing that the dispute has implications beyond Guyana’s teachers and touches the broader rights and independence of trade unions throughout the Caribbean.
“An attack on the rights and autonomy of teachers and their union is an issue that concerns educators and trade unions throughout the Caribbean,”
the GTU said.
The dispute dates back to the nationwide teachers’ strike in February 2024 over wages, working conditions and a multi-year agreement. During the industrial action, the Ministry of Education announced that it would stop deducting union dues from teachers’ salaries and remitting them to the GTU.
The decision triggered a legal battle.
In April 2024, Justice Sandil Kissoon ruled in favour of the GTU, finding that the teachers’ strike was lawful and that the Government’s decision to discontinue the deduction and remittance of union dues violated constitutional protections relating to freedom of association. The Government subsequently appealed the ruling.
The Court of Appeal later rejected the State’s application for a stay of the order requiring the continuation of the dues arrangement, leaving the High Court order in effect.
The dispute has nevertheless continued.
In August 2025, the GTU filed contempt proceedings against several senior Government officials over alleged non-compliance with the court order. The union subsequently withdrew those proceedings after its attorney identified technical issues with the filing, while indicating that the dispute itself was not over.
At the heart of the dispute is an arrangement under which approximately $700 is deducted monthly from each unionised teacher, amounting to roughly $3.1 million per month or $37 million annually, according to previously reported figures.
The Government has maintained that the deduction service is an administrative arrangement and has raised concerns about the verification of union membership. Attorney General Anil Nandlall has also argued that the Government could face legal consequences if dues were deducted from teachers who were not GTU members. The GTU, however, has maintained that the Government already has the information necessary to resume deductions.
The latest regional intervention comes after the two sides reached a separate agreement covering teachers’ salaries and non-salary benefits for 2024–2026. That agreement provides for salary increases of 10 per cent for 2024, eight per cent for 2025 and nine per cent for 2026—a cumulative 27 per cent over the three-year period.
But the settlement on wages has not ended the union dues controversy.
The CUT has warned that the continuing dispute sets a wider precedent for industrial relations and workers’ rights across the region.
“Respect for workers’ rights and the judiciary is non-negotiable in any democratic society,”
the regional teachers’ body declared.
With the CUT now urging Caribbean and international labour organisations to join the campaign, a dispute that began with Guyana’s teachers’ strike has become a broader test of the relationship between the State, organised labour and the courts.
