GEORGETOWN –  The Government of Guyana has made an initial proposal of a 7% salary increase for teachers for this year with a further 6% increase for 2025 and another 6% increase for 2026, according to sources familiar with the proposal.

The counter proposal by the Government follows the submitted proposal of the Guyana Teachers’ Union, which is seeking a 39.5% salary increase for this year with an additional 30% increase for each of the years 2025 and 2026. There has been no agreement on any of the two proposals, but the two sides met again today in their ongoing efforts to hammer out a multi-year agreement. Already, some non-salary issues have been settled, but the salary increases appear to be the stumbling block.

Following today’s five hour meeting between the two sides, President of the Guyana Teachers’ Union, Mark Lyte, said while there is some progress being made in some areas, the two sides have agreed not to divulge details of the meeting at this time. “Both sides committed to not releasing details on the discussions, but I would say for the most part, our discussion today went very well, and you can see that the members are hopeful, optimistic that in the short term, we will have a signed agreement,” the GTU President said.

Lyte also declined to offer any comment on the Government’s proposal, indicating that during the course of today’s negotiations, there were a number of financial and non-financial matters that were not settled. “The proposal put forward by the Ministry, like I said, several areas they have to go back and get, because when they proposed certain things, the Union might have said, we don’t quite agree with this and those are being reviewed,” he said.

A performance-based incentive of 2% per annum, an annual health/risk allowance of $25,000, and monthly internet/mobile data allowance of $10,000 to be paid to all teachers are among the other financial measures proposed by the Union.  When the Union and the Education Ministry met earlier this month for their first round of negotiation, following the end of the 75-day long nationwide protest, it was reported that they had agreed on a number of non-financial measures.  The next meeting between the Ministry of Education and the Guyana Teachers’ Union is set for the 5th August. (newssourcegy)…[+]