Teachers in Guyana plan strike for new school term

GEORGETOWN, Guyana,  CMC – The Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) Monday said its members will embark on strike action from August 27 so as to ensure an agreement is reached with the Ministry of Education.

Union president Mark Lyte, in a memo to teachers, said that the strike would continue “until further notice”.

Schools are due to re-open for the new academic term on September 3.

Last week, Lyte said the long-running pay dispute with the government might be headed for arbitration, and denied reports that the union had agreed that they should hire a specialist to calculate how much each category of teachers should be paid from an available GUY$700 million for 2018.

Lyte said the union is insisting on a multi-year agreement from 2016 to 2019 and the union has asked principals to return the school keys to the respective Education Departments on Friday.

The union is also asking teachers not to report for work from the commencement of Pre-Term Activities until further notice.

“Teachers throughout the length and breadth of Guyana are asked to support this justified action taken by your union to ensure that an agreement is reached between education ministry and the union”, Lyte said in the memo.

He said the decision to call the strike was taken by the union on the insistence of its members to embark on industrial action due to failed talks between it and the education ministry.

The union has described the counter proposal by the education minister as an insult to the integrity of all teachers in Guyana.

“We believe that enough patience was exhibited by the union to allow the ministry o arrive at a satisfactory proposal.  The strike will officially commence on 27th August 2018 and will continue until further notice”.

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