Barbados: sindicato de maestros pide que despidos masivos no los afecte
BSTU warns government not to touch teachers
The Barbados Secondary Teachers Union is promising government that it will not be taking too kindly to any attempts to lay off any of the temporary teachers of its membership.
President Mary Redman’s comments come just 48 hours after about three hundred employees of the Drainage Unit were sent home in an attempt to reduce the numbers of the public service.
Forget about the teachers.
This is the assertion from president of the Barbados Secondary Teachers Union Mary Ann Redman.
She says there’s already a concrete agreement between government and the BSTU that the teaching compliment would not be touched if indeed there was any retrenchment exercise.
Mrs. Redman says the BSTU will not treat too favourably to any breach of this promise as evidently there will be repercussions.
She says there has been an alleged list which has been gathered at the request of the Ministry of Education circulating at the level of principals which is supposed to comprise all temporary teachers who are likely to be retrenched.
Ms. Redman says any list made by government could only be to speedily regulate the steady appointment of teachers in abeyance and nothing more.
She is encouraging her members to disregard any talks about layoffs as according to her it does not pertain to BSTU members.
Ms. Redman says the BSTU is at pains to understand how the Ministry of Education could attempt to determine the numbers and specific teachers to be laid off, how they would rationalize such a process especially given the time frame and the already overcrowding and understaffed conditions in most of the secondary schools.
