The Education Ministry today called out the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) for its protest action that was held in front of the Ministry of Finance. The ministry said a meeting with the union was scheduled for 9 :00 am to progress the discussion on benefits for teachers. It said the union postponed that meeting to 3:00pm today. In light of that postponement, the ministry said the protest action was utterly disingenuous and opportunistic, especially since it was ready to resume talks with the union.
When contacted today, GTU General Secretary, Coretta McDonald told Guyana Standard denied that there was no communication from the ministry for a meeting today, or even a correspondence about the rescheduling of that proposed meeting.
“This government is dishonest…I would usually receive correspondence from the ministry…No one contacted the office of the General Secretary. If the ministry made contact with someone I would prefer they state who they spoke with and when because I received no call,” McDonald said.
McDonald also said the decision on a protest came from the membership and not her, as suggested by the ministry.
Guyana Standard reported two weeks ago that the ministry had cancelled a meeting that scheduled with the union’s representatives. The meeting was expected to address several matters, chief among them was outstanding benefits to the teachers.
