Ministry ‘appoints’ arbitrator for teachers talks

Leyland Lucas (DPI photo)

The Ministry of Social Protection (MoSP) has been accused of misinterpreting Guyana’s Labour laws in an attempt to bully the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) into accepting an arbitrarily appointed Chair of the Arbitration Panel on the wage dispute between the union and the Ministry of Education (MoE).

Meanwhile the union has proclaimed that if within seven days they and the Ministry cannot agree on a chair, teachers will restart strike action.

During a meeting at the Department of Labour yesterday, Minister Keith Scott and Chief Labour Officer Charles Ogle claimed to have “appointed” academic Leyland Lucas as Chair of the arbitration panel.