Jones and BSTU to talk

THE Barbados Secondary Teachers Union (BSTU) has got its wish. The raging dispute with Alexandra School principal Jeff Broomes is getting ministerial attention.Yesterday, BSTU president Mary Redman confirmed the teachers’ union would meet with Minister of Education Ronald Jones tomorrow morning at his office to put their case.Redman said the BSTU had received correspondence from the permanent secretary in the ministry indicating that the minister was willing to meet with them.“We are willing to meet with him because we are anxious to have the matters at the school resolved,” she said. Redman said she found it strange the minister was quoted in yesterday’s Press as saying the BSTU should have written a letter to him, when the union had already done so since June 10.She said the BSTU had followed proper industrial relations procedure.“You write to the permanent secretary and ask that correspondence be forwarded and that was done since June 10. I don’t know if the minister didn’t get the letter and we cannot be blamed if he didn’t get it.“The letter was written to the permanent secretary outlining our concerns and asking that the contents of the letter be brought to the minister’s attention.”Implicit in that request was a further request for his intervention in the matter, Redman added. In an article dated January 7, Redman said the minister described the more than 20 outstanding issues at the school as “pressing” and that combined with the contents of the letter of June 10 should have signalled a “pressing” need for his intervention. She said the letter was also copied to the Chief Labour Officer and the Chief Personnel Officer with the accompanying request that its contents be drawn to the Minister of Labour and the chairman of the Public Service Commission, respectively.She said it was regrettable that the minister made the comment to the effect that his chief concern was with the students of the school.“As a former trade unionist, he should equally understand the importance of the responsibility of the ministry to address the concerns of the workers. The failure of the ministry to recognise and act on this has been the basis of our contention with them for a long time.“We reiterate that the working conditions of the teachers are the learning conditions of the student,” Redman added.