Guyana Teachers’ Union welcomes High Court ruling

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – The Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) has welcomed a High Court ruling Thursday that temporarily prevents the government from cutting the salaries of teachers who have been on a national strike as well as stopping the automatic deduction of union membership dues.

“Teachers, who have been threatened that your salaries will be cut; the judge has issued a ruling,” GTU President, Dr. Mark Lyte said on his Facebook Live broadcast.

He said as a result of the court order, the government would now have to “add back to the system the dues that they did not deduct” and the instruction to cut salaries has to be rescinded.

“The law has spoken,” he said.

The High Court granted the orders on the 14^th day of the industrial action by the teachers and ahead of the full hearing and determination of the substantive matters on March 20, 2024.

He said several other cases would be filed to ensure that no teacher is victimised or suffers.

Last year, the Irfaan Ali government, which has deemed the current industrial action as being illegal, ignored repeated calls for collective bargaining and instead engaged a cross-section of teachers to hear their grievances and requests.

Senior Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh in a statement last December announced an across the board salary increase of 6.5% that will benefit over 54,000 public servants, teachers, members of the disciplined services and government pensioners and will place an additional GUY$7.5 billion(One Guyana dollar=US$0.004 cents) in disposable income annually in the hands of these employees.

The GTU, which called on the strike on February 5,  is proposing a 25% salary increase for 2019, and 20% for 2019 to 2023 and an additional performance-based incentive of two per cent annually.

Further, the union wants a GUY$5,000 emotional/ stress/risk allowance; a monthly Internet allowance of GUY$10,000; a GUY$10,000 monthly allowance to teachers who use their own vehicles to perform official duties, and a fixed monthly allowance of GUY$7,000 for headteachers/principals to conduct business on behalf of their institutions.

The GPU president said that the union is ready to negotiate terms of resumption of work and negotiate “salary increases” with the government as well as “with a time-line in mind” to end a three-year long wait for improved salaries.

Attorney General Anil Nandlall had hoped that the High Court would have granted his application for 14 days to allow him to vigorously oppose the GTU’s application for conservatory orders pending the hearing and determination of the substantive case.

But Lyte said Justice Sandil Kissoon “ruled in our favour” for an urgent hearing because the state wants to challenge the union’s cases.

“We will continue to press our case without fear and favour,” he said, dismissing the way that government has responded to the strike over the past two weeks. He praised the teachers for having taken industrial action.

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