Ministers Agree To Do More To Develop Labour Force

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Teachers have announced plans for a two-day strike next week, but regional education officials say that their action will not disrupt the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) exams scheduled to begin on Monday.

The Jamaica Teachers Association (JTA) said that the strike action is to force the Bruce Golding government to settle the payment of outstanding wages to the teachers, who voted on Friday to reject the government’s latest offer to settle the impasse.

“The decision today at the (JTA’s) Central Executive (meeting) was that the teachers would go on strike effective Monday and on Tuesday but will resume their work to rule action on Wednesday. The Central Executive and Salaries and Conditions of Service Commission will reconvene on Friday, May 7 to assess the situation and look at a possible way forward,” said JTA president Michael Stewart.

Under the existing collective agreement, the government would have paid $J2 billion (US$23.5 million) in May followed by another J$2 billion (US$ 23.5 million) in July while J$2.5 billion (US$ 29.4 million) would be paid to the teachers in June 2011 and the remaining J$1.5 billion (US$ 17.6 million) in April 2012.

Last week, the JTA angrily rejected an initial payment proposal presented by Prime Minster Golding, who is reported to have asked the JTA to accept an accord that would allow for the payment of J$900 million (US$10.5 million) of the increment due to teachers in September, to be paid in May, with a further J$600 million (US$ 7 million) being paid during the current financial year. Finance Minister Audley Shaw has now urged the teachers to re-think their strike plans for next week. “After the two day strike, I will not be able to offer one red cent, I cannot make blood out of stone!,” Shaw said.

But Stewart said that public school teachers had expressed outrage at the government’s treatment of the outstanding wage issue and that they would only be appeased if the government honours at least 50 per cent of the outstanding sums.

“They are hurting and the comments that have been made and the way things have been dished out to them have aggravated the situation. They have asked that the Central Executive take this decisive action to step up the process and to let the powers that be know that it’s not business as usual,” said Stewart.

Meanwhile, the Barbados-based CXC said that the Caribbean Advance Proficiency Examinations (CAPE) and the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) exams would go ahead as scheduled on Monday.

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