The Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) is already on the ball with its 2019 proposal on wages and benefits.
In fact, the proposal has already been submitted to the Ministry of Education, says General Secretary of the GTU, Coretta McDonald who expects a meeting on the matter soon.
“I am hoping that at that first meeting we are going to actually lay out where we want to go and how quickly we are going to get there, because I am sure the officials at the Ministry of Education, they would not want to have a repeat of what transpired in 2018,” she stated, referring the countrywide teachers strike that disrupted schools and forced government to hire substitute teachers.
McDonald explained that the 2019 proposal caters for more than 12 months; it actually caters for a three-year proposal, and she is hoping that after two months, the GTU and the Ministry of Education would be able to come to an acceptable outcome for both parties.
“I am hoping that we are able to sit, look at that proposal, agree, disagree, come to a compromise so that we can have a Memorandum of Understanding signed off so that teachers can begin to enjoy their benefits…Our first talks are going to be held before the end of March, I can tell you that, before the end of March we might have two sets of meetings and we might have agreements, half-way agreements coming from that proposal,” the GTU General Secretary noted.
