IT IS disappointing that spokespersons for the status quo so often end up speaking in predictable clichés, thus missing the opportunity to respond adventurously to proposed changes.
A case in point is the official rejection by the Jamaica Teachers Association (JTA) of the performance pay for teachers pilot project initiated by the Ministry of Education in an attempt to raise the level of efficiency in the profession. Dr. Adolph Cameron, secretary-general of the JTA, not only announced the rejection at the 40th annual conference held in Ocho Rios but almost in the same breath called on members to take protest action to frustrate the performance pay proposal endorsed by the Government-appointed Task Force on education.
The reason put forward by Dr. Cameron for the rejection is that the Jamaica Union of Teachers, the forerunner organisation of the JTA, was formed to oppose a similar proposal floated in 1894. No account seems to be taken of advances in management theory over the past 110 years. The fact that performance-based pay is now an accepted feature of education systems the world over is also conveniently side-stepped. This knee-jerk reaction is an example of rational debate being quickly cut off by a call to force and trade union might. This cannot be in the national interest.
A similar reaction has been taken by trade union spokesmen in rejecting a call by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that redundancy pay legislation is a disincentive for new investments and should be revisited. The gravamen of the unions' reaction is that workers have no intention of giving up benefits for which they have striven over the years. There is no intellectual exploration as to whether new times call for new approaches. There is no recognition that the level of Jamaica's redundancy payments exceed those of many if not most countries.
Severance pay in America is the exception rather than the rule but laid off workers can collect unemployment insurance for 14 months while they try to find alternative employment. Employers and employees contribute to the insurance fund and we think that consideration should be given to the introduction of such a system in Jamaica. To try to stifle debate on redundancy payments, like the teachers' resistance to performance pay, is also not in the national interest.
THE OPINIONS ON THIS PAGE, EXCEPT FOR THE ABOVE, DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE GLEANER.
