THE Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) has expressed its disappointment with Government's offer to pay 5% increases in wages and salaries to teachers across the board.
Immediate Past President of the GTU, Mr. Lancelock Baptiste, says the feedback from teachers regarding the 5% increases is: "they are mad, they are furious".
He told this newspaper that the union is also "very disappointed in the loss of man hours" that went into to the process of negotiations which even reached a point of arbitration. "We are very disappointed in the loss of man hours when we went through for months the process of trying to settle this matter on collective bargaining," Baptiste posited.
"Further, the Ministry of Education never intended going to arbitration in the first place, so it was a total waste of time (and) if the Ministry or the Government continues to impose salary increases on our members then our members will have to do what they have to do," Baptiste stated.
Baptiste also made it clear that the GTU is not part of the imposition of the 5% increase, saying teachers definitely deserve more.
A GINA bulletin said Thursday the five percent increase for teachers, which is to be paid out before the end of the year, comes in the wake of a five percent increase for public servants agreed to on Wednesday.
On Thursday, in a meeting between the Ministry of Education and the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU), Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Ganga Persaud offered a five percent across the board increase for teachers.
An official from the Ministry said, the decision was made taking into account the time of year and the need and demands for teachers.
Payments will be made retroactive to January 1, 2003, and over 11, 000 teachers will benefit from this payout.
The Ministry is in the process of sending correspondence about the increase to Regional Education Officers and head teachers.
It is anticipated that payments will be made in time for the festive season.
The five percent increase for all teachers amounts to teachers taking home:
• A junior teacher - $32,120,
• A teacher with five CXC subjects - $32, 208
• A teacher with two 'A' level subjects - $43, 300
• A Teacher with three 'A' level subjects - $61, 440
• Trained teachers - $61, 440
• Untrained graduate teacher - $84, 908
• Trained graduate teacher - $94,920
The Ministry and the GTU met on a number of occasions to discuss increases in teachers' salaries.
The GTU was keen on discussing salaries for 2002, but the Ministry said that was already dealt with in the 5 - 15 percent payout teachers received. They instead proceeded to deal with matters relating to Whitley Council allowances.
The Ministry of Education has been bearing the brunt of the blame regarding the delayed resolution of salaries disputes over the last few years.
After disagreements early this year, an Advisory Committee was set up by the Minister of Labour, Dale Bisnauth to deal with the matter.
Its prime recommendation was for discussions to be continued on salaries and benefits for 2003 and to re-open discussions on the GTU 2002 - 2004 salary proposal.
It is a new international position that multi year agreements are better, providing bargaining committees with a prolonged period to negotiate for wages and salaries rather than on a short term basis.