Go-slow at school

The Barbados Secondary Teachers’ Union (BSTU) is asking Minister of Education Ronald Jones to intervene  in a situation at Alexandra School where teachers  are on a “go-slow”.BSTU head Mary Redman yesterday  urged Jones to focus “serious attention”  on the St Peter school, as the union tried  to resolve the matter and ensure that  the ministry followed correct industrial relations procedures.Redman told a Press conference that teachers involved in the strike on January 5 were now being victimised, and revealed that teachers would now move from a work-to-rule  to a go-slow.These latest moves stem from the fact that teachers who took strike action  will have their pay docked for the time  they were on strike.Redman said a letter from the  Permanent Secretary in the Ministry  of Education’s on May 17, 2010,  to the secretary-treasurer of the school referred to the Public Service Act,  and said monies should be deducted  from the salaries of striking teachers.The BSTU head said the manner in which the matter was handled was in “bad faith”, since there had been no negotiations since their first meeting on January 8, and they had received no correspondence from Acting Permanent Secretary Bruce Alleyne on a letter they had written him regarding industrial relations.“Their actions in this regard also go against the ILO Convention’s No. 97 (the right to freedom of association and the right to organise) and No. 98 (the right to organise and bargain collectively) which the Government of Barbados has both signed and ratified,” she stated.The BSTU and Broomes have been at odds over issues that date back to 2006. The impasse reached a head last December and January when the union staged industrial action, with about two dozen teachers withdrawing their services from Alexandra School. (CT)