by Linda Straker
- Letter of 1 October warned that GUT would take necessary action to resolve outstanding payments
- Teachers began sick out industrial action on Monday, 14 October
- Minister said salary payments are ultimately managed by Ministry of Finance and Public Service Commission
Teachers in Grenada began the school day off the job for a second day. They began a sick out industrial action on Monday, 14 October as part of a strategy aimed at pushing Government to settle an outstanding payment issue involving both temporary and permanent teachers.
Several teachers have admitted they will be at school some time during school hours today, but it was not clear what time they are scheduled to arrive to begin classes.
For months, Jude Bartholomew, President General of the Grenada Union of Teachers (GUT), has been pointing out that several teachers are not receiving salaries from Government in line with the scheduled bi-weekly payment.
The halt in salary payment for some of the affected teachers began in August and a definitive explanation is yet to be provided from the Ministry of Education. The non-payment has affected temporary teachers — who replace teachers who are off the job for various reasons including study leave or maternity leave — and permanent teachers.
GUT began mild industrial action by its members wearing union T-shirts in early October. On 12 October a flyer was disseminated via social media asked teachers to remain at home on Monday, 14 October if salaries are not paid on or before 13 October.
“We are calling on all teachers to stand in solidarity. If salaries are not paid by Sunday, 13 October, you should be called upon to stay home on Monday, 14 October,” said the flyer addressed to union members.
Before the start of the school year in September, Education Minister David Andrew told journalists that the matter should be resolved, but after the first month of the school year, the union said that hundreds of teachers did not receive payment.
Minister Andrew admitted in a news conference late Monday that the matter is yet to be resolved but assured that all outstanding payments should be completed by the end of this week. “The problem centres mostly around teachers being reappointed — many of whom were brought in temporarily. The system is outdated and relies on manual input for thousands of workers, which leaves room for error,” he said, pointing out that the call out by the GUT was unwarranted.
“In my mind it was unwarranted to have teachers called out,” said the minister, disappointed at the lack of formal grievance procedures being triggered. He said that while the Ministry of Education plays a role in the process, salary payments are ultimately managed by the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service Commission. “We deeply regret the inconvenience caused to our teachers, and we are working closely with the Ministry of Finance to ensure most of the affected teachers will be paid before the end of this week.”
The minister explained that it is Government’s intention to change the current system used to create the payroll. “We are going to have a system that is a lot less labourious, that is a lot less time consuming and will result in rapid payment.” The minister served in a senior position at the Ministry of Education before getting into political life.
Bartholomew, in a late night live via the union’s Facebook page he said that the minister was not truthful in his utterances about the industrial action, because a letter sent to the ministry on 1 October, warned that the union was ready to take the necessary action to resolve the matter of outstanding payment. The letter stated that “We were particularly alarmed by your previous pronouncement, which led many teachers to believe that they would receive their salaries by the end of September. As of today, many have still not received their payments.”
The letter, signed by Melissa St Rose, the union’s General Secretary said, “The GUT stands ready to take the necessary action to ensure a speedy resolution to this critical issue.”
