Teachers union rejects wages offer, threatens more action
By Miranda La Rose
Stabroek News
June 19, 2003
The Ministry of Education has offered teachers a three per cent increase on salaries for this year even as its offer for higher paid instructors for 2002 was yesterday deemed unacceptable by the GTU.
The Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) has written to Minister of Labour, Dr Dale Bisnauth seeking his intervention saying the two parties have once again reached a stalemate.
It is awaiting the minister's response and according to GTU President, Sydney Murdock "unless a miracle or something drastic takes place, the union will be taking industrial action" once more to back its demands.
Murdock yesterday told reporters at a press conference that the ministry had only offered a $15M package for the higher category of teachers for 2002.
That package represented less than a one per cent increase above the five per cent which those teachers had already received. In addition the ministry offered a three per cent across-the-board increase on their salaries for 2003.
The ministry has also offered to bring the salaries of the teachers in the lower categories to that of the minimum wage in the public service.
Following a strike by teachers earlier this year over wages, a terms of resumption agreement was signed between the two sides and negotiations were continued on an improved offer. These talks have now stalemated.
Accompanied by GTU General Secretary Avril Crawford and the GTU Vice Presidents of Essequibo, Demerara and Berbice, Murdock said the union could not see the government executing its five-year development plan for numeracy and literacy without the teachers. He said they were being short-changed and were migrating because of it.
He added that the union's understanding was that the education system was in crisis but most of the donor funding went to buildings and seminars which he considered a waste of time if teachers were leaving the profession.
He argued that the government and the Ministry of Education only seemed to understand the language of brinkmanship. And they were looking at another confrontation with the union. "That's where it's heading and rapidly."
He said the only regret was that the children would suffer and he urged parents to pressure the ministry to improve teachers' pay. Murdock said the union had been patient and had tolerated the breach in the terms of agreement in relation to deductions made from the salaries of teachers who took part in the strike.
During the negotiations, he said, the ministry's representatives had claimed that the offer was tied to the country's Gross Domestic Product but when asked for the evidence he said none was provided.
Asked about the strike relief the union had established to benefit teachers during the last strike, Hamilton reported that teachers in Georgetown were currently being paid 50% of what they would have lost during that period.
He added that 7,000 teachers had completed their application forms for membership of the GTU and had authorised the deduction of union dues from their salaries.
Murdock said that up to Monday, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education Hydar Ally had still not informed the various regions about the deductions from salaries in line with the terms of resumption.
