The Guyana Teachers Union said (GTU) is not pleased with the 8% wage increase recently announced for public servants by the PPP/C administration. In fact, GTU General Secretary, Coretta McDonald said the Union considers the increase a “slap in the face” for the teaching profession.
“You don’t even have to go far to see that the prices in the market are skyrocketing every day. Our teachers have families and financial responsibilities. This has nothing to do with politics, it’s plain and simple, people need peace of mind in order to live better lives and 8% is not sustainable,” McDonald said.
For two years, the General Secretary said the Union has made several attempts to request an audience with President Dr. Irfaan Ali to negotiate a reasonable deal for teachers.
“In 2020, we sent a letter to the President’s office requesting a meeting with him concerning possible annual increases for our teachers. We sent them a letter again, as a union, in 2021 and another this year. We have not received a response to any of our letters,” McDonald stated.
She also noted that correspondence sent to the Ministry of Education had been ignored.
“… We were proposing a 15% increase for teachers. We took into consideration teachers being able to feed their families and take care of their responsibilities,” McDonald said.
The General Secretary further stated that what was more appalling was the fact that no one from either government or the Ministry of Education had consulted the union before the increases were granted.
She maintained that 8 percent, in the absence of consultations, is inconsiderate, to say the least.
