Negotiations between the Bahamas Union of Teachers and the government have diminished to the point that a religious mediator has been called in to ease tensions.
Speaking at his ministry’s head office late yesterday, Minister of Education Alfred Sears revealed after executives from the BUT walked out of their latest negotiations on Friday night (early Saturday morning) he opted to phone Bishop Neil Ellis to ask him for his help.
“When they walked out of the meeting at 1.45am I took it upon myself to call one of our ministers, I called him because I felt that it was that urgent. I called Bishop Neil Ellis. I apologized for waking him at that time in the morning and I asked him for his intervention, because I know that he was helpful with respect to the BEC and the Electrical Workers Union.
“We spoke with him at about 2am and we asked him if he could meet us at 8am on Saturday morning. So this is 2am Saturday and we asked him to come and meet us here. We met with Bishop Ellis, briefed him, and asked for his intervention as a mediator, to see if he could speak to the other side. I understand that there have been some talks, and 1 am hopeful that we will be able to sit down once again very soon and conclude this agreement,” he said.
However the president of the Bahamas Union of Teachers Ida Poitier-Turnquest said that they have not seen or spoken with Bishop Ellis. In fact, Mrs Poitier-Turnquest said that she had “no idea” what Mr Sears was talking g about.
There has been no talks. Not one call – not anything that I know of. No contact whatsoever. As of this hour, which is 7pm on June the 27th, I have not heard from Bishop Ellis,” she said.
During the press conference Mr Sears said that the negotiations are still in the hands of the government and the BUT, and that they only asked for a “small intervention” from Bishop Ellis for this particular stage.
“We asked for the intervention for a particular stage to help lower the temperature, to see if we can reach some appreciation of what the issues are. We will be speaking with the union to see if we can get back around the table,” he said.
Admitting that they did walk out of their negotiations, Mrs Poitier-Turnquest said she did not believe government was prepared to negotiate.
She said the union was on “red alert” but would not expand on what exactly the heightened alert precaution could entail.
However, she did say that they have. encouraged their teachers not to complete any final term report cards, or participate in the distribution of them on National Report Card Day (tomorrow). She also explained that the union is discouraging its teachers from attending any of the Ministry of Education’s workshops, summer school programmes or teacher development courses.
“The BUT has made their offer. It is now time for the government to make a counter offer,” she said. “We are not moving from our stance. Do you realize that the entry level for a teacher is one of the lower levels in the public service? An engineer comes in and (their) salary begins at $35,300? An accountant $31,100, a lawyer $ 28,000, and a teacher $22,800. Now, all of those persons I have spoken about enter with the same level – or a Bachelor’s degree and a professional certificate.” she said.
However, Mr Sears said that the concessions offered to teachers are “ground breaking”, and that a number of them are exclusive to teachers in the public school system.
“Had the union accepted the government’s salary proposal, teachers would have received $1,200 in back pay added to base for the 2005/2006 fiscal year along with a $300 lump sum. This would mean that by the end of June this year teachers would have benefited from an extra $1,500 added to their pay packet.
As of July 2006, teacher’s monthly salaries would have increased by $200. Further, the government has undertaken to increase the minimum salary for a teacher with a Bachelor’s degree and a training certificate from $22,800 to $25,000 by July 2007,” he said.
By: Paul G. Turnquest
Source: The Tribune
