JAPSS calls for further salary meetings between teachers, Gov’t
Published:Tuesday | April 4, 2023 | 1:01 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Linvern Wright, the president of the Jamaica Association of Principals of Secondary Schools (JAPSS), is urging the Government to quickly meet with the nation’s teachers with a view of arriving at an amicable resolution to the current disquiet over issues with calculations under the new salary structure.
In an interview with The Gleaner on Monday, Wright said that the meetings could allow for issues to be ventilated and potentially prevent an exodus from the profession.
“I think that clarity has not been had by teachers about what this compensation review involves. Even though payment has been made, the Government needs not to say, ‘Okay, this is [what was] done’, because then what we are going to have to work with as principals is a level of disquiet that is going to reverberate beyond now,” he said.
“Some of the things we are hearing, for example, is that many teachers are planning to go in December because they are not satisfied with how the compensation review system has worked for them. I would implore the Government to maybe meet with the union to properly explain, or further explain, what aspects people are having issues ... ,” added Wright.
While the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) confirmed last Friday that most of its members had received their March salaries, some educators subsequently reported that the figures were incorrect. Some also indicated that they were not seeing benefits and allowances due to them being reflected.
JTA President La Sonja Harrison had called for the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service to explain the inconsistencies between what teachers were expecting and what they received.
The issue of educators’ salaries has been a longstanding concern, with teachers having previously rejected the Government’s offer of a guaranteed minimum increase of 20 per cent in basic salary after tax deductions, along with double-digit increases for trained graduates, who make up the bulk of the profession. The increase was to take place over a three-year period.
Teachers subsequently staged protests at several schools to register their dissatisfaction.
The JTA and the Government subsequently signed an agreement for a revised compensation package on March 13.
While Wright could not say whether any of the JAPSS member schools had indicated the potential for future protests, he noted that senior teachers at some institutions have been voicing discontent with their March salaries.
“The disquiet from senior teachers is about the amount that they have received ... . That is the greatest area of disquiet that I know they have spoken about, but we have not heard anything in relation to other plans,” said Wright.