The Minister of Education, the Hon. Cole Simons, JP MP, has noted the comments of the General Secretary of the Bermuda Union of Teachers today. The Minister is sympathetic to the concerns of all teachers.
However, the Minister is reminding the BUT that it is important for the negotiations to remain within the scope of its purpose. As stated in the BUT Collective Bargaining Agreement, Article 1: the purpose of negotiations is “to set out an agreement regulating salaries, hours of work, and other conditions of employment…”
We would hope the General Secretary and the executive of the Bermuda Union of Teachers would reconsider the invocation of industrial actions based on the matters they articulated.
The scale posts the BUT references are posts that teachers apply for. Teachers receive contracts for these posts and are aware that the contracts are for a period of three years. The Ministry’s position is that these posts serve as an opportunity for professional development and growth for teachers. Thus, the BUT”s request to have the posts made permanent negates the opportunity for other teachers in the System to have the growth experience for upward mobility, if desired. Additionally, the Ministry understands that the purpose of the collective bargaining agreement is for the negotiating of salaries and the terms and conditions of employment. Thus the employment of people and changes in the organizational chart is not within the scope and mandate of union negotiations.
The Ministry is in support of a modern and relevant education. As such, specific wording of this type is being appropriately included in the mission and vision statements that are currently being developed via the strategic planning undertaking. Therefore the Ministry being conscious of the strategic planning and other initiatives has focused only on the mandate of the collective bargaining agreement for negotiation purposes.
It is understood that although negotiations have begun there has been no written resolution or agreement. Thus all talks continue to remain open. We recognize these are the issues and this is the position the Ministry has taken.
The Minister also advised that the negotiations between the BUT and the PSNT have been suspended for a period. Be that as it may, the Ministry is disappointed with this latest position as the PSNT stands poised to build consensus, and try to bring the negotiations to some conclusion before school resumes in September.
We now call on the BUT and the PSNT to resume negotiations, so that the best interest of our teachers and students are served.