Recently there were three industrial relations disputes that threatened the harmonious relationship that normally exists among the social partners.
During the period when disputes surfaced at the Transport Board, with the private waste haulers and the Ministry of the Environment, and with secondary school teachers and the school-based assessment (SBA) programmes, there were the familiar cries of “do not hold the country to ransom” and “do not hold the country’s children to ransom”.
Unfortunately, these familiar cries emanate from voices that at most times are unfamiliar with, and ignorant of, the facts, the grievances, the broken promises and the frustratingly long and drawn-out negotiations before the last resort of a strike or industrial action is taken.
Without any boast of a hands-on experience spanning more than three decades in labour management issues, this writer can attest to customs, practices and protocols employed by unions and management.
One of the major protocols is not to negotiate via the media, implicitly within the public domain, and this has been the major cause for a public to be not as au fait with the deeper issues in an industrial stand-off.
This ultimately creates misconceptions and ill-informed opinions.
Prior to any publication in the Press, no one in the public domain was aware of the agreement between the workers and the Ministry of Transport regarding the matter of “re-employment”.
No one knew all the detailed facts about how the “tipping fee”, payment and cost for disposing of recycled material was affecting waste haulers.
To date, no one in the public domain knows all there is to know about the handling, marking and overall management of the SBAs, with the attendant imbalances and uneven playing field on which some teachers have to perform.
Seven years is a bit long but not too late for the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) as owners of the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC), the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE) and the SBA programmes, to sit with the Barbados Secondary Teachers’ Union, hear the grievances and arrive at an amicable resolution.
If not by way of fiduciary care or duty, the Ministry of Education as a partner with CXC should seek to facilitate the teachers in having their grievances resolved.
– Michael Ray
