BUT members to meet tomorrow

 

Members of the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) have been invited to attend a meeting at the Union’s Welches headquarters tomorrow morning.
 
Word of the meeting, scheduled for 9 o’clock, came from President of the BUT, Pedro Shepherd during a press briefing yesterday evening at the office of the Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations of Barbados (CTUSAB). Yesterday’s press briefing followed a one-hour meeting between the BUT’s executive and CTUSAB’s President, Cedric Murrell and General Secretary, Dennis de Peiza. Shepherd, who is also the First Vice President of CTUSAB, said that meeting was to apprise the umbrella body of the issues currently facing the BUT, in the event they are called on for support in the future.
 
His comments came as he explained that no decision has been made yet as to the union’s next move, but he gave the assurance that following tomorrow’s meeting they will update the media and the public as to whether the Union will be taking any further steps in its quest to have their concerns on indiscipline, security of tenure, terms and conditions of service among others, heard by the Ministry of Education (MOE). Shepherd assured that any actions they take will not affect the upcoming 11-Plus examination on Tuesday.
 
Stressing that the planned meeting is not a form of industrial action, he added he saw no need to close schools on Friday, as he does not foresee the meeting taking the entire day. Taking issue with those who have referred to teachers as “glorified nannies”, he indicated that it is simply a case of the “glorified nannies” not being on the job as early as they are normally would be, and so he said the parents may have to make prior arrangements for someone “to babysit the children until the teachers arrive.”
 
“The Ministry would then have to make a determination on whether or not they close, but the Barbados Union of Teachers has no power in this country to close schools. As a matter of fact, I think only the Minister has the power to close schools, so he would use the exigencies of his office to determine that,” he said.
 
Shepherd’s remarks came as he explained that tomorrow’s meeting is being called to give the BUT executive the opportunity to share with their members the response they received on Tuesday, April 26 from Minister of Education, Ronald Jones in relation to their request for a meeting by Wednesday, April 27.
 
 “I think it is a very serious piece of correspondence and so members ought to be aware of that piece of correspondence. At that meeting, we are also proposing that members continue to share, because I am sure they did not share all they had to at the gymnasium, to share all that they have to share re the concerns affecting education, re the concerns affecting their individual performances and so on within the classroom,” he said.
 
The union boss told the media that in response to Minister Jones’ letter, they faxed correspondence to the Ministry of Education on Wednesday morning, indicating that the BUT’s executive is willing to meeting at a time that is convenient to both parties to plan the parameters for the meeting with all the teachers across the country. But, he explained, that they received no response from the Ministry, and as a result took the decision to hold the mass meeting on Friday morning.
 
Informed that Minister Jones indicated during his earlier press conference that no such correspondence was received, Shepherd said the letter was forwarded to the BUT’s office around 7:30 a.m. and should have been faxed around 8 a.m. on Wednesday. He stated he received confirmation from the office that the fax was indeed sent.
 
Shepherd further noted that the BUT has always had a good relationship with the Ministry, and there is no problem between the BUT and the Ministry. He said members only want an opportunity to discuss with personnel from the MOE how they feel about the issues confronting the education system and to hear from them the Ministry’s policy position going forward. (JRT)

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