Philipsburg:--- President of the Windward Islands Teachers Union (WITU) Claire Elshot told reporters on Tuesday during the Windward Islands Chamber of Labour Unions' (WICLU) weekly press briefing that she felt the statements made by Finance Minister Roland Tuitt were disrespectful and unethical.
Elshot said all unions on St. Maarten have been speaking out against the non-payment of the Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA) and she cannot understand why the Minister of Finance Roland Tuitt would say if the WITU could tell him where to find the monies he would make the payments immediately.
The WITU President said that the unions and government are currently discussing the 2010 COLA payments and while the Prime Minister promised the unions and the GOA to send them a proposal on how they intend to index the COLA payments, that proposal has still not been sent by Prime Minister Sarah Wescot Williams.
Elshot further explained that last week the Finance Minister challenged the WITU into taking over his seat as Minister. The WITU President said she finds the statement made by the Finance Minister is a dangerous presidency and unethical. Elshot said the COLA payments do not only benefit teachers alone, she said she also believes that the WITU was singled out by the Minister when he made his comments. The COLA is for all civil servants, teachers, police, prison guards, coast guards, and pensioners. Some two weeks ago the Minister of Finance Roland Tuitt responded to a question that was posed to him by a reporter regarding the COLA payments. Minister Tuitt in response to the question said if the unions could tell him where to get the monies to make the COLA payments he would do it immediately.
When SMN News asked Elshot if she took note of the recent budget cuts that government had to make in order for the CFT to approve the budget, Elshot said that in 2011 the government did not even budget the COLA payments but that payment was made in June 2012 shortly after the UP/DP Government collapsed.
Lack of Teachers in Public Schools Worrisome.
Another issue that has the attention of the WITU is the lack of teachers in at least three public schools. President of the WITU Claire Elshot said that there are a number of teachers that are out on sick leave and so far the department of public education has not found replacement teachers for those teachers that are out on sick leave. She said the students whose teachers are out on medical are divided among the other classes and this is creating a huge problem for the other teachers who now have to shoulder the extra work load. "Sometimes the guest students don't even fit in the class program that is prepared by the teacher who has to take in the extra students, besides that when these students don't fit in the teacher has to neglect her class to pay special attention to their guest students.
Elshot said it was brought to her attention that substitute teachers are sometimes called in but these teachers do not receive equal pay for equal work as it is stipulated in the law. She said she understood that the substitute teachers are being paid less and that is not part of the law. Therefore, the WITU will be doing some research to deal with the matter.
The Windward Island Teachers Union will also be looking into the matter regarding extra and further training for FBE teachers. Elshot said her members believe the FBE training has become a never ending program and they are supposed to receive certification when they complete these trainings but so far that has not been done.