Cease all industrial action now! This is the order from the Ministry of Education as the Barbados Secondary Teachers’ Union (BSTU) yesterday prepared to intensify its strike against Alexandra School principal Jeff Broomes.
In a strongly worded statement issued at 4 p.m., the ministry called for “a cessation of all industrial action to allow negotiation and discussion to continue” and noted that “might can sometimes be interpreted as right”.
Saying it had no intention of getting into any interpretation of grievance handling procedures, the ministry said it needed time to investigate Broomes’ accusation on December 2 that an Alexandra teacher had deliberately not taught a class for an entire term.
The ministry said this issue was the current and central one placed on the table by the BSTU last month, and therefore any reference by the union to previous matters was not helping the situation.
Read the full story in today’s MIDWEEK NATION.
