In a move designed to force the government to agree to its demands for salary increases for public school teachers, the Bahamas Union of Teachers on Tuesday warned the government that it would call industrial action for later this week if officials do not agree to what the BUT is asking
Union executives warned that teachers would not complete any report or confidential cards, pertinent school records generally highlighting a studentﾒs academic progress from primary to high school.
“Teachers will also not participate in the distribution of report cards on National Report Card Day, Thursday, June 29th,” the BUT said in a press release.
“Further, if our matter is not resolved prior to the close of school on Friday, June 30th, all teachers will not be attending any workshops, summer school or any activity during the summer that is school related.”
The BUT issued the ultimatum following over a month of ongoing meetings, one of which reportedly lasted 12 hours, ending at 3 oﾒclock in the morning.
Union executives admit that that meeting proved “very fruitful.”
The union last returned to the negotiating table on Friday for a marathon meeting that reportedly ended on Saturday around 1:45am.
But according to BUT President Ida Poitier-Turnquest, all did not end well, particularly after both parties signed off “on the majority of [the unionﾒs] demands.”
“We are extremely disappointed that we had reached the point where we were to discuss the economic issues, issues that the government has been ready to discuss for such a long time. But they came to the table unprepared,” Mrs. Poitier-Turnquest said during an interview with the Bahama Journal on Tuesday.
“They came with figures that show rank discrimination with the public service. The only thing that we are asking for at this point is parity with other public officersﾅThe government was not prepared to come up with anything that we thought made any sense whatsoever.”
The union is adamant that the government hike the entry level salary for teachers, the maximum of the teachersﾒ scale and the offer for salary increases.
According to the unionﾒs release, teachers with a Bachelorﾒs degree and professional certification enter the education field at $6,100 less than a lawyer, $8,300 less than an accountant and $12,500 less than a civil engineer.
This is based on the BUTﾒs estimates that the beginning salary of the average lawyer is $28,900; an accountant, $31,100; and a civil engineer, $35,500.
The beginning salary of a teacher is $22,800, she said.
“We presently have approximately 50 percent ﾖ 1,500 ﾖ of our teachers who for the past seven, eight, nine and some even 10 years have not received a salary increase or an increment because they have reached the maximum of the salary scale, $31,200,” the unionﾒs release further claimed.
“This does not offer any incentive to our members, nor does it assist in the recruitment and retention of teachers, especially males.”
But it was a claim Education Minister Alfred Sears denied at a press conference late on Tuesday. (See related story on page one).
Meantime, the 3,500 strong BUT has reduced its initial salary proposal that called for a lump sum of $4,000 plus salary increases over a three-year period, which would have totaled $56 million.
The union is now demanding a $3,200 lump sum and salary increases over a three-year period. The total offer would mean a payout of $36 million.
But according to Mrs. Poitier-Turnquest, the government maintains that giving into the unionﾒs demands would create a strain on the budget.
But thatﾒs an argument the union president has rejected.
“We were told that the economy is robust, but our main aim is that we have not received an increase in salaries since 2002. Therefore, it is time for the government to realize that with the rising cost of living, persons can no longer survive on the money that they are prepared to pay us,” she said.
“ﾅSurely, the cost of illiteracy is much more expensive than our proposed salary package.”
While presenting the 2006/2007 budget in the House of Assembly last month, Prime Minister Perry Christie indicated that provisions had been made for the settlement of the teachersﾒ award.
At the time, he added that the Bahamian economy has already reached the take-off point into what could be the longest, highest and most sustainable economic expansion in Bahamian history, but he maintained that the government needed to be cautious as it regards expenditure.
While leading off debate on the budget in the senate on Monday, Minister of State for Finance James Smith highlighted the need for the government to be careful in what it agrees to in the line of wage increases for public servants.
“There is an understandable and quite proper desire to ensure that public sector employees are given the respect and remuneration for their work and in that regard, I would merely wish to caution that if the rate of pay increase in the public sector runs ahead of revenue growth arising from the buoyancy of the economy, then the economy is on a collision course with economic realities,” he said.
By: Macushla N. Pinder, The Bahama Journal
