By ANNELIA NIXON

Tribune Business Reporter

anixon@tribunemedia.net

BELINDA Wilson, the Bahamas Union of Teachers (BUT) president, said there are still issues with confirmations, reclassifications and promotions, despite a new industrial agreement being drafted.

With their industrial agreement ending on June 30, Ms Wilson was satisfied that the BUT and the government were able to negotiate three salary increases and other benefits.

“Prior to 2021 we were trying to get to the table for about three years with our industrial agreement,” Ms Wilson said. “So I must give credit to them that they did come to the table, and we did negotiate a agreement which ends next month on the 30th of next month. So definitely I’m happy that we were able to not only negotiate an industrial agreement, but we were able to get three salary increases, and we were able to improve some of the benefits for our members, and we are now preparing a draft for 2025-2028 agreement.”

However, Ms Wilson stressed the importance of being confirmed, adding that members are still experiencing confirmation, reclassification, and promotion issues.

 “The agreement actually, as we speak, I’m preparing the new draft,” Ms Wilson said. “Our negotiating team is going to look at that draft. I’m having a meeting with my members this week, so we will look at the highlights of that draft and have that submitted to the government within another two to three weeks. We still have the issues, though, of human resource management, human resource matters. So the confirmations, the reclassifications, the promotions, those have been a challenge, perennial, and it seems as though there’s like no light at the end of the tunnel, because the emphasis on human resource management in education in particular does not seem to be a priority. So we definitely need to have persons who are skilled, who have expertise in human resource management, so they would know what it is that needs to be done when a file is placed in front of them, because a lot of times you would contact two to three or four officers on one question, and you can get two or three or four different answers. And so they need to know what the standards are, what the policies are, what are the regulations. So it has to be improvement in that area. 

“And when we talk about confirmation, I think sometimes people say, ‘well, at least they have a job.’ No, if you not confirm, it’s a challenge for you to open up a bank account. You can’t get a mortgage or a loan, and persons would need to get mortgages. They would need to get loans. Sometimes they want to send their own children off to colleges or universities, you would need a letter that’s saying that you are confirmed on the job that you’re working on. So it’s definitely a challenge. It must be improved. And like we get so tired asking for the same thing over and over and over and over. I think our ministers coming, ministers going, it’s the same rhetoric. We got tired of rhetoric. Let us see the true change in the system for the benefit of the workers.”

Ms Wilson, did say she was pleased with communication efforts between she and the minister. However, she doesn’t believe “that the communication or the importance of the stakeholder has trickled down”.

“When it comes to the communication with the present minister, I’ve not had any difficulties. Sometimes 1am in the morning, we’re WhatsApp-ing each other or discussing different ideas. However, I don’t think that the communication or the importance of the stakeholder has trickled down to, let’s say, permanent secretaries, directors and persons who are in charge of various departments or ministries, because the challenges may be greater to get an audience with them, or to communicate with them. So I believe that there has to be from the top, they have to emphasise the importance of that day to day interaction with stakeholders such as unions, and not only just having a meeting for meeting sake, but we must see that the various changes are implemented and executed in a timely manner.”