Schools back to normal or no negotiations

AN EMERGENCY meeting of the General Council of the Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers’ Association (TTUTA) is expected to be held today at the Valsayn Teachers’ College, to decide on the Association’s response to what it considers a “threat” by the Chief Personnel Officer (CPO) to halt negotiations unless a written guarantee is given that the “school system will return to normalcy by today.”

The CPO’s ultimatum came as TTUTA called on teachers to continue their protest action with a day of  “Rest and Relaxation” tomorrow. In a release yesterday, TTUTA stated that it viewed the request and position taken by the CPO as an attack on the principle of free collective bargaining, to which this country subscribes. It stated that the request was an attempt to deny teachers their right to protest and use accepted negotiating tools and mechanisms, as well as to take away the rights of workers to defend and promote their legitimate interests. On the issue of leave entitlement, TTUTA explained that under the Education Act, Regulations and Collective Agreement, teachers are entitled to 14 days occasional leave, and at any time can take up to two days, which the principal has to record for administrative purposes. The organisation noted that at no time, is there a requirement to apply in advance, nor for prior approval and indicated that the Ministry did not have the authority to deny this leave.

TTUTA said it condemned “the attempts by the Ministry to deceive and intimidate teachers in this regard, and view this as yet another attack on the democratic rights of teachers, guaranteed under the law.” TTUTA explained that it has rejected the latest offer by the CPO, since it viewed it as “asking teachers to live in 2004 on their 2001 salaries.” The release, which was signed by TTUTA’s General Secretary Peter Wilson stated that it will not tolerate any attempts to deny the teachers’ legitimate rights to protest, to destroy the free collective bargaining process or to undermine the trade union movement in this country. The latest offer made by the CPO stated that no salary increases will be given for October 2002 — September 2003, minimal increase of about three percent from October 2003 — December 2004 and full salaries for grade three and four teachers only and for grades one and two the last nine months of the agreement period for January 2005 — September 2005.