<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Leader of the\nOpposition Dr Godwin Friday says that people ought not to view with any\nsuspicion a meeting of the Opposition and the trade unions as the Opposition is\na legitimate part of the system of government and it is of tremendous\nimportance that the channels of communication are open for the exchange of\nimportant information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr. Friday raised the issue at a press conference at the office of the Leader of the Opposition on Monday, days after he met with the Public Service Union (PSU) and the St Vincent and the Grenadines Teachers Union (SVGTU). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It\nis very important that we the Opposition remains engaged and informed in\nimportant matters affecting teachers and public servants. I believe it is my\nduty to seek to open paths of communication with the representatives of\nimportant civil society organizations such as trade unions and to be of\nassistance to them where I can. Indeed,\nI have done so repeatedly with the Christian Council,” the opposition\nleader said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr\nFriday further stated: “We must remember that the Opposition is a\nlegitimate part of our system of government. \nIt not an alien force to be viewed with suspicion or fear. It is an\nessential part of our system of government and acts with the might of constitutional\nauthority behind it. As Opposition\nLeader, I therefore take my role and that of my colleagues in this regard very\nseriously.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr\nFriday said that at the\nmeeting with the unions, several matters including salaries,\npromotions and working conditions of teachers were discussed and the unions\nalso advised of proposals they\nhave presented to the Government on behalf of \nmembers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“In\nparticular, we learned that the Teachers\u2019 Union and the Public Service Union,\nin a joint proposal, wrote to the government twice in 2017 and again in 2018\nseeking to engage in collective bargaining with the government and that the\ngovernment failed to respond to their letters. In other words, the unions have\ncalled on the government to engage in negotiations to lead to a new collective\nagreement, but the government has refused to respond. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It is\nextraordinary that a government that promotes itself as a friend of labour and\na progressive employer would not even acknowledge or reply to the requests of\nthe legitimate representatives of the employees of the government,” The\nLeader of the Opposition said.\n\n\n\n\n\nfffffffffff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Leader of the Opposition Dr Godwin Friday says that people ought not to view with any suspicion a meeting of the Opposition and the trade unions as the Opposition is a legitimate part of the system of government and it is of tremendous importance that the channels of communication are open for the exchange of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":303,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[10,5,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-breaking-news","category-local-news","category-mainstory"],"yoast_head":"\n