Education Ministry writes Labour Minster seeking intervention in salary talks with GTU

See below the statement issued by the Ministry of Education:

(May 12, 2024) - On Sunday, the Ministry of Education wrote to the Minister of Labour inviting the said ministry to intervene in the matter with the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) indicating that there has been a breakdown in negotiations between the Ministry and the GTU regarding the question of which years the new multi-year agreement should address.

This request is 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.

The latest decision was taken after the Ministry of Education wrote to the Union indicating its readiness and desire to meet immediately or at any time convenient to the Union to negotiate a multi-year agreement from 2024 onwards but the Union responded to say they were prepared only to meet to discuss years 2019 to 2023.

A meeting is scheduled for 10:30am tomorrow morning (Monday, May 14, 2024) at the Ministry of Labour.