MOUNTAIN SPRING BAY, Trelawny — More than 250 delegates attending the 62nd Annual Conference of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) are set to decide today whether to accept or reject an improved government offer addressing key components of their 28-point wage and benefits claim.

The protracted negotiations between the two parties have been ongoing since 2024.

While the JTA has guarded specific details of the new offer ahead of today’s presentation, outgoing President Mark Malabver on Monday provided insight into some of the historical sticking points.

“Put it this way, the Government recognised what our red lines were. We submitted 28 items on our list of claims. The Government has treated [with] a few of those red lines. It’s up to the delegates to now decide whether or not they’ll accept it based on what the Government has put on the table,” he told the Jamaica Observer on the margins of the three-day conference’s opening day.

It is being held at Ocean Coral Springs Hotel in Trelawny.

According to Malabver, “One aspect of the offer is aligned with what has been proposed to the Joint Confederation of Trade Unions.”

“There are, however, other items on our list of claims that we would have submitted that we have been negotiating around, and that is what is going to occupy our attention at this point in time,” he added cryptically.

During his opening address on Monday, Malabver confirmed the JTA’s receipt of an improved offer, attributing the progress to the union’s hard work.

“Throughout these negotiations, colleagues, we have sought to represent teachers firmly and responsibly. It has not always been easy. There have been difficult and frustrating moments that require that the hands be banged on tables. But there have also been moments of meaningful progress because the association stood its ground,” he told educators.

“Our position has remained clear: Negotiations cannot simply be about figures on the page. They must also be about equity, fairness, dignity, and proper valuation of the teaching profession. And we have insisted that the classroom teacher must be given pride of place,” added the president.

During an investiture ceremony held Monday night, Malabver passed the baton to LaSonja Harrison who will serve as president for the 2026 to 2027 term. Harrison, who previously served the association as president between 2022 and 2023, lost a lawsuit she filed against the JTA in July 2024. In the suit she contended that the union violated its own constitution by signing off on a three-year wage offer from the Government through a virtual special delegates’ vote in March 2023, instead of an in-person meeting.