Teachers to sign salary deal Friday

THE FORMAL signing of the salary agreement between Chief Personnel Officer (CPO) Narieman Hosein-Ahamad and the Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers’ Associa-tion (TTUTA) will take place on Friday at the Cascadia Hotel St Ann’s, at 9 am. The agreement covers the period 2002 - 2005. Minister of Education Hazel Manning, Public Administration Minister Dr Lenny Saith and TTUTA president Trevor Oliver are expected to deliver short addresses.

The settlement involves a one percent increase on the consolidated salary (Basic + Old COLA) for the first year (Oct 2002 - Sept 2003); an additional two percent increase for the next 15 months (Oct 2003 - Dec 2004); and target salaries based on the External Labour Market (ELM) survey, ie — full market salaries for the bulk of teachers in Grades 3 and 4, between 86 and 98 percent of the market salaries for teachers in other grades, for the next nine months (Jan 2005 - Sept 2005).  There is also a new fixed COLA of $65 per month over the three-year agreement. The settlement amounts by the end of the three-year period to overall percentage increases for teachers across the grades, of between ten and 30 percent on their previous monthly salaries. in a release, Oliver thanked the media for the objective reporting of the negotiations, saying it contributed to the success of the process.