JTA to decide on course of action next Wednesday
THE Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) will next Wednesday decide on a course of action in its wage dispute with the Government, after holding a series of islandwide meetings with disgruntled public sector teachers.
President Hopeton Henry told the Observer yesterday that the basic wage package that was negotiated by the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Union (JCTU) and the recent offers from the Government would be presented to the teachers at meetings scheduled for next Monday and Tuesday.
The meetings are being convened following government’s refusal yesterday to put a new offer on the table.
The teachers’ 24-point claim include a proposal for all salaries to be adjusted to reflect a 30 per cent increase in year one and 25 per cent in year 2; 20 per cent to 50 per cent increase in shift allowance; full upkeep/commuted travel allowance to be paid with salaries monthly, and a 100 per cent increase in transportation allowance for teachers with positions of special responsibility.
The teachers are holding out for an increase in government’s offer of $22,000 for a Resource and Technology Allowance, a delay which teachers warned could collapse the entire negotiations.
Yesterday, Henry told the Observer that the government’s latest stance could spell trouble for the new school year, as some teachers were calling for an immediate lock down of the education system out of a growing sense of dissatisfaction.
“What I am sensing from the calls coming through from individual teachers across the schools today [yesterday] of militancy,” he said.
Henry said that at a meeting yesterday the JTA members were able to solicit the views of the regional officers, who have been in touch with the schools since the start of the term.
One of the critical issues that the teachers raised, he said, was the need for “a greater level of clarification” on the entire package.
This will be explained at next week’s meetings, after which the JTA would be able to make an assessment of what direction to take from here, he said.
“Out of this last set of meetings, on Wednesday, it will give the leadership a clear idea of where we go from here,” Henry added.
