BUT: Time for action

Teachers are getting restless over delays in getting appointments and pay increases, and are warning that “action” may be on the horizon.
The warning has come from president of the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) Pedro Shepherd who also said Wednesday night that the union has been waiting long enough for a Teaching Service Commission and a new collective bargaining agreement to be put in place.
Speaking ahead of featured speaker Ralph Thorne QC at the BUT’s annual John Cumberbatch Memorial Lecture at Almond Bay, Shepherd said it was time for teacher concerns to be resolved.
“Teachers are getting restless about security of tenure and pay increases. The union can only restrain its members up to a certain point. The industrial relations thread is fraying and sooner rather than later this union may be forced to take action due to the tardiness of stakeholders in hearing its concerns,” he said, although not disclosing the nature of that action.
“When that happens I hope that we’re not accused of pervasive negativity and told to stay in the road, for as long as we are doing good for our membership we are not staying in [any] road or won’t be coward,” Shepherd added. (DP)