The Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) on Tuesday said that negotiations over salary increases for its members with the Ministry of Education have collapsed after government refused to consider the 2019-2023 proposed multi-year agreement.
“Talks have collapsed because, as it is, there is no plan for a future meeting,” GTU President Dr Mark Lyte said, adding that for the first time the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education attended the negotiations and informed the parties that the government did not budget for salary increases for those years.
But in a statement, the Ministry of Education, claimed that the union representatives had abandoned the talks and walked out of the meeting.
The meeting was chaired by Permanent Secretary of the Education Ministry, Shannielle Hoosein-Outar who upheld the Government’s position that discussions surrounding salary increases should be from 2024 onwards.
She explained that increases for the prior years would have financial implications, and that the 2024 budget does not have the fiscal space to accommodate the retroactive payment of salaries for Guyana’s teachers during the period 2019 – 2023.
