By RASHAD ROLLE 

Tribune News Editor 

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMAS Educators Managerial Union president Stephen McPhee said Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis was “apologetic” about the exclusion of school administrators from the government’s public sector pay review.

Mr McPhee, who met Mr Davis alongside other union leaders yesterday, said principals, vice principals and senior masters and mistresses were wrongly left out of the review of managerial and supervisory posts, even though those roles are part of the Ministry of Education’s leadership track. He said the union pressed its case in letters and again in yesterday’s talks, and left with assurances that the omission will be fixed quickly.

The May 2025 Salary Review for Middle Management and Technical Officers, prepared by consulting firm DCB Holding Ltd for the Ministry of Finance, covered 85 priority roles across the public sector. The analysis looked at senior administrators, members of the Royal Bahamas Police and Defence Forces, customs and immigration officers, correctional officers, and finance, audit, statistical, executive, and administrative personnel.

The study did not include teachers, nurses, doctors, or most frontline and support workers, focusing instead on those within the Ministry of Finance’s defined “management and technical” classifications. The omissions and focus on senior roles are at the heart of the recent industrial strife. Mr Davis has said the methodology underlying the report will be applied to ensure increases throughout the wider public service, though he was not clear when those will take effect.

“The prime minister and his team, I must say, was very receptive in some points and was even apologetic and made it clear that there was no ill will or intent,” Mr McPhee said. “We came out knowing what facts are, knowing what our members would be expected to look forward to.”

He said the union accepts that the administrators were “mistakenly” left off the scale and that officials pledged to restore them to the review framework without delay.

Mr McPhee said BEMU tabled further proposals and is giving the government “another week or two” to consider them, adding the union’s second meeting with the prime minister “got results” similar to their first.

Addressing Wednesday’s teacher sick-out, he said administrators respect staff using lawful means to press pay concerns, but acknowledged it strained schools already short of leadership posts. More than 1000 teachers called in, representing 36% of the workforce.

On Facebook, Mr Davis noted that he also met with Sandra Major of the Bahamas Educators Counsellors and Allied Workers Union (BECAWU)and Obie Ferguson of the Trade Union Congress (TUC).

“We spoke openly about the concerns of workers and our shared belief that the best way to solve problems is at the table, through honest and respectful dialogue. We may not agree on everything, but we share the same goal — a fair deal for those who keep our country running.”

Notably absent were Bahamas Union of Teachers (BUT) President Belinda Wilson and Bahamas Public Service Union (BPSU) President Kimsley Ferguson. In a national address this week, Mr Davis indirectly accused them of grandstanding and engaging in unnecessary theatrics.

Yesterday, Mrs Wilson and Mr Ferguson led a small protest in front of the Office of the Prime Minister and delivered a letter to him.