The Advisory Committee appointed to inquire into the wage dispute between the Guyana Teachers' Union (GTU) and the Ministry of Education yesterday submitted its completed report to Prime Minister Samuel Hinds.
Chairman of the committee, former pro-chancellor of the University of Guyana, Dr. Martin Boodhoo, together with UG Bursar John Seeram and GUYSUCO's Industrial Relations Officer Francis Carryl, formally submitted the completed report which is to be handed over to Minister of Labour, Dr. Dale Bisnauth and the relevant agencies.
Bisnauth, in whose absence the Prime Minister received the document, will consider the recommendations contained in the report to resolve the dispute which has seen the nation's teachers take strike action to press for their wage demands.
The Committee was set up by Bisnauth to advise on the way forward after negotiations collapsed between the parties when an agreement could not be reached on the issue of teachers' salaries for 2002. The union is seeking a 15% across the board hike.
Boodhoo speaking with Stabroek News at the handing over yesterday at the Office of the Prime Minister, noted the importance of the timely completion of the report given what he termed the "sensitivity of the situation" and the anxiousness of the country to have the teaching situation return to normality.
While unable to disclose any of the recommendations in the report, until it had been cleared by Minister Bisnauth, Boodhoo said "our hope is that this report could be the basis for a reconciliation between the parties so that they could go back to the bargaining table." (Andre Haynes)