The Jamaica Teachers Association [JTA] is expressing frustration with the slow pace of wage negotiations with the Ministry of Finance.
JTA President Mark Malabver confirmed on Sunday that he remained unhappy that there there had not been any significant change to the offer made by the government.
He said teachers were becoming more agitated that there has been no positive response to the claims submitted to the government, “and there’s going to come a point in time where they will no longer exercise restraint,” noting that it is now approaching five months since the JTA submitted its claims to the Ministry of Finance.
Furthermore, he stressed, public school teachers have now gone more than a year without a contract, “bearing in mind that, in a three-year contract that is being proposed, by some time in the new academic year, we would start the process of putting together a new list of claims to submit to the government, and yet we are nowhere near wrapping up this one.”
Mr Malabver, speaking on the JTA’S Teachers Time programme, aired on Radio Jamaica, declared that the government must prioritise wage negotiations with the teachers.
Teaching Council
JTA President also continues to have misgivings about the Jamaica Teaching Council bill.
He said there are concerns about the composition of the Jamaica Teaching Council Board, the costs for licensing, the fines and the cost of those fines, among other things, including the grievance procedure “as it is outlined in the JTC Bill.
He said the JTA had had consultations with the Ministry of Education on these concerns “and we are formalising our response in writing.”