NUPW seeking better deal for BVTB workers

THE National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) is calling on the powers that be to upgrade the status of the demonstrators of the Barbados Vocational Training Board (BVTB) to that of instructors.

 

The call was made in a statement sent by the General Secretary stating that it cannot be business as usual at the BVTB until this matter is addressed.

 

“Over the years, the job of demonstrator at the BVTB has evolved to the extent of being comparable to that of instructor at the Samuel Jackman Prescod Polytechnic. The ongoing transformation of vocational training at the Board has seen the introduction of a semester system which came into effect in August 2015, along with the implementation of National Vocational Qualifications and the Caribbean  Vocational Qualifications.”

 

The level of quality of the training by the teaching staff was highlighted in the perennial gold-winning presentations at the World Skills exhibition; the high rate of gainful employment and recognition of students passing out of the Training Board’s programmes; and also the entrepreneurship endeavours of several graduates of the Board’s programmes.

 

According to the statement, the requirements for the job of demonstrators, including qualifications, duties and responsibilities, show clear justification for an urgent upgrade. “For over a decade the teaching staff of the BVTB have been seeking to have their status regularised in accordance with the demands and requirements of the job. 

 

“The NUPW is insisting that the upgrade of demonstrators should not be held back in any overall restructuring of the Training Board given the extent to which these employees have been disadvantaged over the years. The Union is therefore appealing to relevant agencies of Government to expedite the process of having demonstrators’ posts upgraded to the level of instructor.”