President of the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU), Colin Bynoe says progress is being made in talks with government on the multi-year incentive package for teachers.
Bynoe on Wednesday met with President Bharrat Jagdeo and Education Minister Shaik Baksh on the issues and yesterday he told Stabroek News that “we went a good way.” He said that the decision to involve the president in the discussions was taken “because we weren’t moving too quick with the Ministry.” The Government Information Agency (GINA) reported that “an amicable agreement has finally been reached much to the satisfaction of both parties.”
Bynoe pointed out yesterday that the union is to meet again with the president some time next week. “We were able to come to a consensus on more than the amount that we were able to get with the Ministry,” he added.
The multi-year package was signed on October 11, 2006 and initially catered for a five percent per annum across the board increase for all categories of teachers and one percent of the wage bill as a performance based increment per annum for eligible teachers.
Baksh told GINA that the two sides brainstormed the many demands that were made to the existing agreement and by next week the consensus will be fine tuned and concluded once and for all.
