By Shuntel Glasgow and Abigail Headley
Hundreds of teachers from all across the country went on strike yesterday as their union threw down the gauntlet to the government over its failure to engage in free collective bargaining since August 2020.
As day one of the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) strike came to a close, the union expressed satisfaction with the turnout. General Secretary Coretta McDonald also vowed that should there be deductions by the Ministry of Education (MoE) from the salaries of teachers who participated, corporate sponsors have pledged to reimburse them.
Meanwhile, in a statement last night, the MoE said that it is closely monitoring the “illegal” strike by the GTU. The statement further noted that the MoE accepts the opinion of the Ministry of Labour (MoL) that teachers who do not report for duty without a legitimate reason should not be paid. Further, for those parents whose children are being affected by the industrial action, the ministry has assured that they are providing educational content for students through various platforms.
