Friday, January 16, 2015
By RASHAD ROLLE
Tribune Staff Reporter
rrolle@tribunemedia.net
BAHAMAS Union of Teachers Secretary General John Musgrove said the suspensions of President Belinda Wilson and treasurer Lorraine Knowles are likely to remain in place in view of issues the union is facing with an appeals committee formed to consider the matter.
Ms Wilson has been suspended for six months while Ms Knowles has been suspended for four months.
A three member appeals committee that was established nearly two weeks ago to decide whether the suspensions should be overturned or upheld missed its Sunday deadline and has failed to respond to the executive committee’s summonses, Mr Musgrove said.
He said he believes the actions of the committee are acts of defiance, adding that the executive committee will meet to decide how to punish the three for allegedly contravening the union’s constitution by failing to respond to the executive committee’s summonses.
“We asked them to come twice by letter and they refuse to come,” he said.
He added: “I wash my hands of the matter now and there’s nothing in the rules that says we have to accept what they did.”
The members of the appeals committee were elected nearly two weeks ago by members of the BUT.
Mr Musgrove said he believes the members of the appeals committee are cronies of Mrs Wilson.
“When we summoned them on Tuesday, they had people there from us they could have interviewed. But they interviewed Belinda when she came and not others and left when she did.
“I sent a letter to them, quoting the constitution which says that they are liable to be sanctioned. Despite this, they never came to meet with us. We cannot support persons who are investigating in breach of the constitution. If the executive committee summons you, you have to come.
“They don’t even know what they were being summoned for. We wanted to see where they were in their deliberations and perhaps give them an extension. But I won’t be writing another letter. The only thing that I will write is their letter concerning punishment.”
When contacted for comment, Acting BUT President Zane Lightbourne said: “We got legal advice to accommodate (the appeals committee) as much as possible but I think they are stepping over their boundaries.”
He added that the executive committee will meet within the next week to determine what to do with the appeals process.
This conflict comes amid the executive committee’s concern that more than $1.1 million from the union’s pension and savings account were wrongfully spent.
Both Mr Musgrove and Mr Lightbourne yesterday dismissed threats of legal action made by lawyers of Ms Wilson and Ms Knowles.
A letter signed by the law firm Bootle-Williams & Company on Tuesday said that the pair were illegally suspended and that the appeals process was prejudiced against them.
The lawyers gave the union an ultimatum, to rescind the suspension by 5pm Tuesday or face legal action.
Reacting to this yesterday, Mr Musgrove said: “We didn’t respond to the letter.”
Mr Lightbourne added that the union does not respond to threats.
Comments
duppyVAT says...
Suspend with No Pay .................. Conduct an independent foresnsic audit and recover the monies that were misappropriated or stolen. The members of BUT must stand up ....... they are considered the teachers (lights) of the nation .............. the other Unions seem to be losing their credibility right now. teachers need to demand better from their BUT leaders.
Posted 16 January 2015, 1:15 p.m. Suggest removal
Baha10 says...
Thieving Teachers, what next, no wonder our Country is in trouble?!? One can't expect our Youth to sail a straight course in life if their Compass is crooked.
Posted 16 January 2015, 7:25 p.m. Suggest removal
Fitmiss says...
As a parent and a teacher, I am not primarily commenting on the story just this comment/post which alludes to teachers being students' compasses. I do not need another teacher to steer my child when it comes to morals, that is what my husband and I are here for.
I have noticed over the years, that for some reason society places teachers on pedestals. Teachers are first human beings, do not expect us to be the Messiah for your kids. Not all teachers are Christians and many grew up in broken homes and are broken people just like so many others out there in our society. We want teachers to act a certain way just like everybody on their own jobs should act like a professional, but do not ascribe to teachers saintly behavior.
We teach mostly because we love teaching, love the students and love our jobs, not necessarily because we want the students to go on the course we chart for them, if so we would all teach military or seminary school.
Parents are to guide their own kids so that when they arrive to school it will be easier for us to teach them. Parents are to train their kids in the way he/she should go. No one else is responsible for guiding these kids except their parents and then parents are further assisted by the church and school. We are not as vital as the parents and their influence upon their own seed. Although yes we do have a powerful impact whether positive or negative on children's psyche and their future development.
Regardless of how much society claims to esteem us, at the end of the day, it is these same kids you will believe over us if a situation arises. Do not put all of this load or expectancy of perfection on us.
I do pray that we get to the bottom of this unsettling situation with the BUT, as it is rather embarrassing and a blight on the teaching profession, but mostly a mark against those who are involved as I personally will not carry someone's error in judgment..
Sorry to run on, I am just fed up with first hand experience of some people's preconceived ideas of what teachers are or should be and what our job description entails....
Posted 18 January 2015, 3:15 p.m. Suggest removal
Guy says...
I hear you, but I'm sorry. I just can't take a teacher seriously if his/her writing has grammatical errors.
Posted 19 January 2015, 8:53 a.m. Suggest removal
duppyVAT says...
This has nothing to do with the character ot teachers per se. This has to do with the operations and character of the BUT Executive and by extension the tolerance of the membership for crooked leadership and/or abuse of union funds .......... please do not bash teachers.........the last bastion of civility in the country.
Posted 19 January 2015, 9:38 a.m. Suggest removal
Maddock says...
Education is the only way to increase our communication skills. Communication is an art witch we get from education. Communication helps us to <a href="http://paperwriter-s.com/">paper writer top sites</a> best convince to another person’s with the help of education.
Posted 19 January 2015, 10:46 a.m. Suggest removal
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