According to the immediate past President of the GTU, Lance Baptiste, it was agreed that deductions from the salaries of teachers who were on strike would be made in phases in accordance with the International Labour Organization (ILO) convention, which states that monthly deductions from salaries cannot exceed one-third of a person’s salary.

However, Baptiste gave examples of deductions whereby $9,000 and $11,000 from two teachers whose salaries are $20,000, respectively, while $18,000 was deducted from another one whose salary is $38,000.

Baptiste said that teachers are very upset about this development and are expressing the view that they want to go back on strike. However, he ruled out the union issuing a strike call without exhausting other avenues of resolving the issue. He said if teachers want to go on strike on their own it would be a decision on their part.

He added that he was trying to make contact with the Minister of Labour, Human Services and Social Security, Dr. Dale Bisnauth, who had expressed a willingness to become involved should any problems develop after the signing of the terms of resumption. However, Dr. Bisnauth was on business on the Essequibo Coast yesterday.

He further stated that the GTU made contact with the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Hydar Ally, on the issue. Baptiste said the P.S. promised to look into the matter, but so far the situation remained the same.

When contacted by the Chronicle, Mr. Ally confirmed that the GTU spoke with him on the matter, but explained that he told the union that it was too late to do anything about the deductions for this month. He said the phasing-out process would be implemented from next month.

Mr. Ally said nothing could have been done because the computers were already programmed and in some cases cheques which already had passed through the financial system were issued. He said that nothing sinister is intended and the Ministry is committed to honouring the terms of resumption agreed upon between the two sides.