Conciliation talks deferred as union meets teachers ahead of strike

Solidarity: Teachers hand in hand during yesterday’s meeting with union executives at the Albion Sports Complex in Berbice.

Ahead of planned strike action, the executive of the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) yesterday chose to attend scheduled meetings with its members in Berbice instead of a conciliatory meeting hastily called by the Ministry of Social Protection.

The conciliatory meeting, scheduled for 2 pm at the ministry, was arranged at the request of the Ministry of Education after negotiations will the union on salaries and some benefits reached a standstill. It has since been rescheduled to next Tuesday, one day after the planned strike is scheduled to begin.

GTU president Mark Lyte told Stabroek News that the request to attend the meeting arrived at the union at 10 am yesterday, just four hours before the scheduled start time.