Teachers union in Guyana wants arbitration over wage stalemate

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – The Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) is seeking arbitration on proposed salary increases, arguing that the government has shown no inclination to continue negotiations.

The union has written to Chief Labour Officer, Dhaneshwar Deonarine, requesting that the process be moved to arbitration.

The request follows an earlier one several weeks ago for conciliation talks to begin.

But, the union said those talks were never held, further stalling the negotiations.

In its latest letter, it said that all matters discussed during previous meetings between the union and the Ministry of Education were non-financial since the Education Minister Priya Manickchand repeatedly made it clear to the union that financial matters are dealt with by the Office of the President and not the Ministry of Education.

The union stated that it has not been engaged by the Office of the President on any salary or finance-related issue, and therefore demands that arbitration proceedings be set in motion since the time for conciliation has now expired.

The union is urging that an arbitrator mutually agreed to by both parties be identified so that the process can begin, saying it is prepared to participate in the identification and selection process for an arbitrator.

The union recently accused President Irfaan Ali of hosting a meeting with a group of head teachers and deputy head teachers from various schools across the country.

At that meeting, some of the teachers said they would prefer an increase in allowances over an increase in salaries, with Ali indicating that he would look into their request.

However, the union said the group of “selected” teachers were in no position or had no authority to make representation on behalf of the more than 7,000 teachers who are members of the union.

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