The Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) is disappointed with the efforts of the Ministry of Education to settle the issue of increases in teachers’ salaries for 2002, says GTU President Sydney Murdock.
Representatives of the ministry and the union met in the office of the Permanent Secretary in Brickdam yesterday. The ministry’s four-member delegation to the bilateral negotiations is headed by the Permanent Secretary, Hydar Ally, while Murdock leads the GTU delegation.
Efforts by Stabroek News to contact the Permanent Secretary yesterday proved futile.
Asked why the GTU was disappointed, Murdock did not elaborate as he said the talks would continue tomorrow morning. However, he said “there seems to be no formal movement on the outstanding issues” and that time was running out.
The union is seeking a 15% increase in salaries for the higher categories of teachers for 2002 and for the ministry to bring the emoluments of the teachers in the lower categories on par with that of the minimum wage of the traditional public servant. The terms of resumption to end the teachers’ strike committed the Ministry of Education to concluding the agreement to the salary proposals 2002-2004, as submitted by the GTU, within four weeks of the signing of the terms of resumption.
Murdock said that one week had already passed and teachers were anxious to know how the issues were being dealt with.