COMRIE... they are very upset right now and if we don't get something positive from we can't be responsible for what will happen

THE teachers' union yesterday told the Government that it has until five o'clock Wednesday afternoon to improve its wage offer of six per cent increase over two years or risk a strike by its over 20,000 members.

Sadie Comrie, the president of the Jamaica Teachers Association (JTA), announced the ultimatum after a meeting of its executive endorsed a decision by its parish committees to snub the offer that the finance ministry put on the table in the ongoing negotiations for a contract to cover the period 2002/2004.

"We have totally rejected the wage offer presented to us by the Government," Comrie told the Observer. "We have sent a letter to the Ministry of Finance and Planning outlining that."

"If we do not get a favourable response from the Government by that time Wednesday afternoon, then there will be problems in the education sector," she added.

Comrie declined to say what level of compensation her union was now demanding, and senior finance ministry officials were not immediately available for comment.

But late last year, Comrie had said that the JTA was seeking a 30 per cent hike in the first year of the contract and a similar increase in the second -- much more than the three per cent in the first year and three per cent in the second offered by the Government.

A teacher with a teaching diploma starts at a basic pay of $406,977 a year, while those with university degrees but no teaching diplomas start at $408,197. Those with university degrees as well as teaching diplomas start at $529,775. Teachers also have other benefits, such as an allowance for material.

However, teachers have argued that their pay remains too low, contributing to an exodus from the classroom to the private sector and schools in the United States and Britain, which have recruited here in recent years.

The Government has said that teachers are entitled to a deal negotiated by civil servants to take their pay to within 80 per cent of that received by private sector counterparts by 2005, with adjustments starting last year. So far, though, a system for these parity adjustments, which fall outside current wage negotiations, has not been settled.

At the same time, the administration, facing a public sector deficit of 8.4 per cent of GDP and under pressure from creditors to control spending, has warned that it will have to keep a lid on wages.

But yesterday, Comrie indicated that her constituency was unimpressed by such arguments.

"The teachers are calling for industrial action, but we are asking them to hold on while we negotiate," she told the Observer. "They are very upset right now and if we don't get something positive from the Government we can't be responsible for what will happen in the education system."

According to Comrie, the JTA's Action Committee, as well as its Salaries and Conditions of Service Committee would be meeting today to discuss any further course of action.

"Our Action Committee disseminates information to our members, especially when there is an emergency," she explained.

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