Vernon Daley, Staff Reporter
OCHO RIOS: THE ISLAND'S teachers have asked for a 50 per cent increase in their salaries spread over two years as part of a 28-point wage claim currently being negotiated with Government.
The teachers want a 30 per cent increase in the first year and a 20 per cent increase in the second year for the contract period 2000/2002. On Tuesday, Ray Howell, chairman of the Jamaica Teachers Association (JTA) Salaries Committee, informed the over 300 teachers attending the 36th annual conference of the association that the Permanent Salaries Review Board had asked for additional time to study the claim before making an response.
"By September, late August we are hoping to get some positive feedback from the review board," Mr. Howell later told
The Gleaner.
The claim which was submitted in March also demands that a consultant be brought in to examine the 1998-2000 contract of teachers to assess whether they are on par with other workers in the public sector.
In addition, the JTA wants material and equipment allowance to be increased from $72,000 to $96,000 in the first year and a further increase to $108,000 in the second year. The teachers also want the Government to provide a pool of funds from which they can buy houses.
With respect to vacation and study leave allowance, the JTA had requested that the percentage of staff that was allowed to go off, should be increased from the current 10 per cent to 20 per cent.
However, with recent moves by the Ministry of Education to rationalise the granting of leave, the JTA has gone on the defensive, trying to hold onto what already exists.
"We had an understanding that they would look at the leave and increase it. What we notice now is that, instead of doing more, the Government is cutting back," Mr. Howell said.
The issue has occupied teachers throughout their 36th annual conference which ended yesterday at the Renaissance Jamaica Grande Resort, Ocho Rios. The conference heard that at least 70 teachers who are qualified for the leave facility have been turned down by the Ministry.
The conference unanimously approved a resolution brought by Juno Gayle, past president of the JTA, calling upon Education Minister Burchell Whiteman to abide by the provisions of the Education Regulations, which make provisions for 10 per cent of school staff to be afforded the opportunity to go on leave.
"We believe that we fought for this in the 70s. It is a hard-won right and we are not prepared to give up on this one," Mr. Gayle told
The Gleaner.
He said that the decision by the Ministry to cut the facility is short-sighted as it limits the ability of teachers in the system to go off to improve their qualifications. Teachers are entitled to four months study leave after five years and four more months for each additional five-year period.
