<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Excerpts of Dr. Friday\u2019s Press Statement)\u00a0NDP\u00a0VIEW<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nNew Democratic Party (NDP), on Thursday 17th<\/sup> January 2019, held a\nmeeting with the Executive of the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Teachers\nUnion (SVGTU). The meeting took place here\nat my Office at Democrat House. I believe it is the first time we have had such\na meeting with the Union during my time in politics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most\nof the members of the Union executive were present, including the President and\nthe 2nd<\/sup> Vice President. I invited the Union leaders to meet with me\nand other members of the party and Opposition so that we might hear directly\nfrom them about the matters of concern to the workers they represent. There had\nbeen (and remain) in the public discourse a lot of discussion about interaction\nbetween the Union and the Government, particularly concerning a meeting that\nhad been scheduled between the Teachers\u2019 Union, other unions and the Prime\nMinister which the Union leaders did not attend because they refused to\nsurrender their cell phones to the Prime Minister\u2019s security. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I\nam very grateful to the Teachers\u2019 Union for accepting my invitation and for its\nwillingness to discuss with us issues of concern to teachers. It is very\nimportant that we the Opposition remains engaged and informed in important\nmatters affecting teachers and public servants. I believe it is my duty to seek\nto open paths of communication with the representatives of important civil\nsociety organizations such as trade unions and to be of assistance to them\nwhere I can. Indeed, I have done so\nrepeatedly with the Christian Council. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We\nmust remember that the Opposition is a legitimate part of our system of\ngovernment. It not an alien force to be\nviewed with suspicion or fear. It is an essential part of our system of\ngovernment and acts with the might of constitutional authority behind it. As Opposition Leader, I therefore take my\nrole and that of my colleagues in this regard very seriously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At\nthe meeting with the union, my colleagues and I discussed several matters\nincluding salaries, promotions and working conditions of teachers. The Union also advised of proposals it has\npresented to the Government on behalf of its members. In particular, we learned\nthat the Teachers\u2019 Union and the Public Service Union, in a joint proposal,\nwrote to the government twice in 2017 and again in 2018 seeking to engage in\ncollective bargaining with the government and that the government failed to\nrespond to their letters. In other words, the unions have called on the\ngovernment to engage in negotiations to lead to a new collective agreement, but\nthe government has refused to respond. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It\nis extraordinary that a government that promotes itself as a friend of labour\nand a progressive employer would not even acknowledge or reply to the requests\nof the legitimate representatives of the employees of the government! This must be very disheartening for the\nunions. Such an approach by the government is disrespectful of the leaders of\nthe unions and has the effect of undermining the legitimacy and effectiveness\nof trade unions in representing workers in this country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I\nam very concerned about the failure of the ULP government to engage in\ncollective bargaining with the unions. \nThe last collective agreement with teachers was negotiated in 2005. This\nis the agreement that allows teachers to contest elections for parliament and,\nif unsuccessful, to return to their jobs. \nThe government, as you know, failed to honour that aspect of the\nagreement in the cases of three teachers, namely, Addison \u201cBash\u201d Thomas, Kenroy\nJohnson and Elvis Daniel, who contested general elections on behalf of the NDP\nand were not allowed to return to the teaching service. That matter is in the\nCourt of Appeal and a decision is expected any day now. We expect that the teachers\nwill prevail in that case, but as is necessary, acknowledge it is entirely a\nmatter for the Court to decide. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Do\nyou know that the last negotiated salary increase for teachers took place in\n1999 under the NDP government? All salary increases under the ULP government\nhave been legislated. In other words, the government says to workers and their\nrepresentatives that they know best what is good for the workers and have the\npower to enforce it. So, instead of\ncoming to table in a spirit of mutual respect, and negotiating an acceptable\noutcome, the ULP government used its power in every instance to impose an\noutcome. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It\nis a shame that a government that calls itself a labour government and brags\nabout its labour friendliness would intentionally obstruct and disregard the\ncollective bargaining process. And we see it is doing so again, right now! Despite calls by the unions\nfor negotiations on all matters, including salaries, the government has refused\nto come to the bargaining table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead the unions were invited to meet the Prime Minister and other\nmembers of government to be informed about what the government had decided to\noffer them in the upcoming budget. And\nwhat is that offer? A mere 1% for the second half of 2018, 1.5% for 2019 and 2%\nfor 2020. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This purported imposition by the government of a so-called salary\nincrease is an affront to the Union and to the bargaining process. We support the unions in their calls for a\nreturn to the collective bargaining process and generally in their efforts to\nrepresent their members. The government should respect the bargaining process\nand engage in good-faith negotiations with them. \n\n\n\n\n\nnhideused1 \\<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" (Excerpts of Dr. Friday\u2019s Press Statement)\u00a0NDP\u00a0VIEW The New Democratic Party (NDP), on Thursday 17th January 2019, held a meeting with the Executive of the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Teachers Union (SVGTU). The meeting took place here at my Office at Democrat House. I believe it is the first time we have had such a<\/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":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-opinion"],"yoast_head":"\n