Teachers to get 2002 payout by January 11
Stabroek News
January 4, 2003
Teachers should get the payout for the 5-15% increases in their salaries for 2002 by next weekend.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education Hydar Ally said the Ministry of Education and administrative regions were currently preparing requests for the Ministry of Finance to pay teachers last year’s increases in salaries by next weekend.
In a release issued on December 17, the ministry had proposed making payments in time for the Christmas holidays.
Meanwhile Education Minister, Dr Henry Jeffrey at a press briefing yesterday clarified the issue of the increase in teachers’ salaries saying that the increases ranged from 5% to 15%. Junior teachers/teacher aides would receive 15%; acting teachers, 11%; pupil teachers, 8%; temporary qualified and temporary unqualified, 5%; and other categories of teachers 5%.
Asked about the disparities in the announcement of salary increases by the Education Ministry and Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon, Dr Jeffrey suggested Dr Luncheon had probably been misinformed.
Dr Luncheon had announced on December 19 that Cabinet had approved increases only up to 10%.
Dr Jeffrey also declared that the Education Ministry would not go to arbitration with the Guyana Teachers’ Union on the issue of salary increases since the union failed to attend a meeting to discuss the issue of arbitration.
He said the ministry could have only gone to arbitration by mutual consent and the GTU showed no urgency in going to arbitration.
Dr Jeffrey maintained that following the deadlock in the conciliation talks, and based on advice given by the Labour Ministry, the Collective Labour Agreement between the ministry and the GTU does not bind either party to arbitration.
He said that the ministry decided to effect payment only after the GTU failed to initiate arbitration proceedings as indicated at their December 16 meeting when conciliation talks broke down. Jeffrey said the ministry had exhausted the financial resources available to it at the negotiations with the union and was advised by the Labour Ministry that payment could be effected without breaching the Collective Labour Agreement.
