Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Mr. Hydar Ally and immediate past President of the GTU, Mr. Lance Baptiste both expressed optimism in comments to the Chronicle.

Ally described the situation as "cautiously optimistic", while Baptiste said the offer to bring those teachers at the bottom of the ladder up to the minimum wage in the public service, gives optimism and is welcomed by the union because it is one of its major demands.

He also indicated that the GTU is satisfied with the efforts of Labour Minister, Dr. Dale Bisnauth to bring an end to the impasse, adding that the GTU has received an invitation from him to a meeting tomorrow in a further bid to arrive at a terms of resumption agreement.

He said that now that the Government has offered between $40M-$60M to offset the minimum wage issue, from the union's standpoint, the other major hurdle to be overcome is the settlement of the issue of salaries for the qualified teachers who need to be kept in the education system.

Baptiste said all that the GTU is asking for is that those teachers who received less than 15% in last year's payout be paid the difference. If agreement can be reached on this issue, he indicated that the way would be paved for an amicable resolution of the industrial action by the GTU.

He claimed that in order to satisfy that demand, it would cost the Government about $1,000 more per teacher with about one-third of that amount going back as taxes. He added that at the meeting tomorrow, this matter will be pursued by the union

Ally said that the overall atmosphere is now more conducive to arriving at a settlement and indications are that the union has adopted a new thinking on the issue. He also confirmed that the Minister of Labour has invited the two sides to the meeting tomorrow in its continuing efforts to conclude terms of resumption.

At a recent press briefing, Minister of Education, Dr. Henry Jeffrey made it categorically clear that the Ministry of Education will not negotiate with the union "under duress" in keeping with the norms of industrial relations, and would only resume negotiations when the strike action is ended by the GTU.

He acknowledged that salaries of teachers are low, but explained that this is not because of the will of any one person. Instead, it is because of the resources that are available in the country.

Negotiations to resolve the current strike called by the GTU reached a stalemate with both sides holding on firmly to their respective positions, which resulted in the intervention by the Ministry of Labour to break the deadlock.

Consequently, it proposed the establishment of an Advisory Committee to investigate the circumstances of the strike.

This proposal was accepted by both sides and the Committee which was headed by former Pro-Chancellor of the University, Dr. Martin Boodhoo, has since completed and submitted its findings to the Ministry of Labour and Cabinet. Secretary to Cabinet, Dr. Roger Luncheon had indicated that Cabinet found the recommendations of the committee to be useful in the process of resolving the impasse.

GTU called on its membership to strike two days per week with effect from March 5 to back its demands for improved salaries and working conditions.

Initially, the strike was called for Wednesdays and Thursdays of every week.