Staff Writer
The Opposition St Kitts-Nevis Labour Party was surprised by the absence of St. kitts Teachers Union (SKTU) from the May 2 Labor Day rally in downtown Basseterre.
The failure to show came on the heels of teachers, SKTU and the Ministry of Education locking heads over government moves to move their Easter vacation from April to March without consultations.
Former controversial Minister of Education Sen. Nigel Carty in an interview with The Observer question the absence. He suggested the Union may have stopped working after the Basseterre High School students and teachers were removed from campus during the controversy.
“One question being asked is, where is the Teachers Union?”, said Mr. Carty. “The teachers union seemed to be here two years ago, so much in support of teachers and the rights of persons who work as teachers in our secondary and primary schools. But on a day like today, they are absent.”
He said the government’s move to change the holiday from April to March saw a number of teachers incurring extra costs by rebooking tickets or canceling their plans. This should have spurred the Union president to round up members and take to the streets for the rally, but this did not happen. He suggested the problem was a lack of communication between government and union on changes made to the terms and conditions for teachers.
‘I would have thought with an issue like that, the union leadership would have tried to galvanize the support for the teachers and have many of them come to this march to demonstrate they would really like the government to adopt a more consultative approach,” he added.
Last February, the Ministry of Education issued a statement making date changes for teacher vacations throughout the Federation.
The vacation was originally set for April 1-18, but the Ministry said the new vacation period would be March 24-April 11. The Union later issued a statement condemning the arbitrary change, claiming it had ’caused an erosion of trust and seriously breached the relationship between the unions and the ministry.’
The Union also reportedly criticized the Ministry of Education for not consulting them on the cancelation of the laptop program and a hold placed on the REACH program. In its statement the Union called the suspension without consultation ‘very unfortunate’ and said such programs were important in the development of students and provided needed support for their education. Party further claimed the Union actions during his time as Minister were evidence that the body was ‘strictly political’ with their actions.
Opposition leader Dr. Denzil Douglas who led the march told reporters there was a time when the teachers union was politically motivated and that it was being used as a campaign tool against the sitting government. To this end, he said, he was not surprised at the Union’s absence from the parade. He also noted that the current and former head of the Union has received promotions from the government.
Dr. Douglas said, “The president was promoted to become principal of the Basseterre High School. The principal then during the political issue had infact been with the Union has been promoted to permanent secretary in the new government.
“That is why today the threat against teachers and the practices being put forth against teachers by this government all goes totally unnoticed to the Union because the Union has been compromised.”
