GTU issues new strike ultimatum to gov’t

Mark Lyte speaking yesterday

The GTU yesterday issued a new ultimatum to government over collapsed collective bargaining talks and said it is prepared to call teachers back out on the streets.

The union’s move follows the breakdown of talks on Tuesday after the two sides deadlocked over which years they were to negotiate over. The Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) said that the signed minutes of last week Thursday stated the negotiating period as 2019 to 2023 while the government’s new negotiator on Tuesday said that only 2024 onwards was up for discussion.

“We cannot engage in any discussion on a proposal we never submitted”,  GTU president, Mark Lyte said in a Facebook address yesterday, stating that industrial action will resume if the government does not return to the negotiation table within a few hours to discuss salary increases for 2019-2023.