Jamaican public school teachers have rejected a 16 per cent wage increase from the government over a four year-period amid speculation that they could embark upon island wide industrial action in support of their demands.
The Jamaica Teachers Association (JTA) met at a special meeting over the last weekend to discuss the latest offer from the Andrew Holness government, and overwhelming voted to reject the offer.
Seeking two-year agreement instead of four
The teachers are asking that instead of a four-year agreement, the authorities revert to two years and in addition, they want the special allowance of protective clothing be increased to $20,000 per annum, up from the current J$18,504.
They also want teachers to be paid J$2,500 to mark research papers and J$2,000 per student for supervising teaching practice. The government has already rejected both demands.
Govt options
The government has offered the teachers a four-year agreement covering the period April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2020. It is also providing them with two options, six per cent in year one, no increase in year two, five per cent in year three and five per cent in year four. The second option presented was year one, five per cent; year two, per cent; year three, four per cent; and year four five per cent.
An insult
Following the three-hour meeting, 313 of the 352 delegates voted against the offer which they described as an insult.
The JTA president Georgia Waugh Richards said a letter would be sent to the government outlining the teachers’ position and are expecting a speedy response.
“The teachers have spoken. They spoke loud and clear. We serve the teachers of Jamaica. We operate based on their mandate and so we have no choice but to move forward on the mandate of the teachers of Jamaica,” the JTA president said.
Asked what response would be forth coming if the government does not provide a favorable response, the JTA official replied “well as you would have seen …the JTA is a democratic organization.”
