On Friday, February 3 delegates of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) converged on Wolmer’s Boys’ School to determine whether to accept the latest salary realignment offer from the Government of Jamaica.

This was after weeks of consultations with teachers right across the island. According to reports, the Government seemed to have made two additional concessions on a new offer that they sent to the leadership of the JTA late Thursday night into the morning of February 3. Notwithstanding this, the delegates voted 560 to 24 to reject the Government’s offer.

TACTICS

There is a growing practice by the Government of sending a so-called new offer at the very last moment, when teachers are either about to deliberate on the offer before them or are in the process.

In these situations governments typically have their ears close to the ground, and as such, I believe it would have known that teachers were set to reject the current offer. Therefore, it could have sent this new concessionary offer days or even a week in advance, but they instead chose to send it at the last moment. I find this to be disrespectful and condescending to the process and is demonstrative of a Government that is clearly not negotiating in good faith.

It can easily be interpreted as a move to stir up dissent and divide the teachers, thereby further widening the trust deficit that exists between the Government and teachers. It is a practice that they should stop!

It must also be noted that the offer which has been made, given the number of anomalies, suggests that the negotiating team at the Ministry of Finance is either ignorant of school operations or has no appreciation for same. The fact that the Government, in their wisdom, has now decided to kotch work experience officers at the trained graduate level and not at the guidance counsellor’s level is a case in point.

There are several points of concern that the JTA has in respect to the Government’s offer, which I will hereby attempt to outline.

MIDDLE MANAGERS

Middle managers are critical to the operations of the school. They supervise what is happening on the ground daily. They are basically responsible for operationalising policies, teacher quality, and direct supervision of students and teachers. The Government’s offer to compensate only current middle managers in the system is simply untenable.

This further demonstrates that the Government’s negotiation team is ignorant of school operations.

The JTA, in good conscience, simply cannot accede to this proposal.

NEW SALARY SCALE

The Government’s proposed new salary scale is fraught with changes that will not redound to the benefit of teachers. For example, a teacher, who, by virtue of years of service in the system, would have reached his or her second year of seniority on the current scale will now be dropped to point three on the new scale, whilst teachers in their third year of seniority on the current scale will drop four points on the new scale; teachers who have spent five to seven years in the system will now drop to point two on the new scale.

The Government has offered no plausible rationale for these adjustments. The JTA is contending that years of service and experience should still count for something and that when teachers transition to the new scale they should remain at the same point as on the current scale.

ALLOWANCES

The book, stationery, and technology allowance as well as the graduate allowance are two allowances the Government wants to either do away with or change the current terms of agreement.

The book, stationery, and technology allowance, as the name suggests, is given to teachers to help offset the cost of basic supplies that are essential to the teacher as well as be used to maintain and upgrade personal technology, such as laptops and tablets. Many teachers are in the process of acquiring laptops through an agreed government scheme. The JTA is, therefore, arguing that the allowance should remain in order to cover the cost of maintaining and upgrading these laptops that have now become essential to the job of a teacher.

The graduate allowance is given to teachers who have the equivalent of a masters or PhD degree. Once you have acquired a graduate degree you are paid the equivalent of four points on the current scale. The Government is proposing to roll this into salary and pay the equivalent of one increment as a graduate allowance, effective 2024.

For a field like education that is dependent on the acquisition and dissemination of knowledge, the Government seems more keen to curtail rather than encourage upgrading of degrees. Finland has a world-class education system precisely because to qualify to become a teacher you must have the equivalent of a master’s degree.

INFLATION

In order to protect the spending power of teachers, the JTA is proposing that once inflation hits a certain target, for example 10 per cent, there is an automatic increase in teachers’ salary of three per cent. This is different from what currently obtains in the previous heads of agreement in which the rise in inflation triggers another round of discussions without there ever being any movement or concessions made by the Government.

Jamaica currently ranks second on The Global Economy.com’s human flight and brain drain index for 2022. Teachers account for a very high percentage of that brain drain, especially since the USA is in need of at least 300,000 teachers. We simply do not have the capacity to replace those teachers who are leaving faster than the Windrush generation.

The effect of this on our education system, given its current challenges, will be felt in years to come. Teachers have always been called upon to make sacrifices in the interest of this country. They have endured years of wage freeze under what was known as a social partnership, which was very much one-sided. They have endured meagre wage increases that were way below inflation, which saw their spending power significantlydeclining.

They have also endured the Government reneging on several agreements. I believe it is fair to say that teachers have been in an abusive relationship with Government. The JTA may as well leave the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions (JCTU) and join the Me Too movement.

The Government must now respond to the concerns highlighted by the JTA in the shortest possible time and in a genuine way. There is no democratic country that has a world-class education system that does not pay their teachers a salary that will attract the best and brightest minds the country has to offer. In fact, it’s a necessary prerequisite to having an education system of which we can be proud.

Mark Malabver is principal of Yallahs High School; a PhD candidate at the University of Technology, Jamaica; and chairman of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association Secondary Committee. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or MarkMalabver@yahoo.com