Hope and faith in the government is dimishing

Aug 31, 2016 Letters

Dear Editor,
I lost a bet; that teachers would be given an incentive on their salary by the eighth month of the year. I think this is outrageous! Something I have never experienced in my 17 years as a teacher. Let me present the situation as it is. Since I started teaching in 1999, there has always been the ‘back and forth’ between the Union and the Government, the Union (of which I am a member) has over the years taken several positions including negotiation, arbitration and to the extreme, protest action in the bid to have improved conditions including a raise in pay. The then administration, which we so vociferously voted out of office (in our euphoria for change) has always settled for what seemed to be the most they could do; twist it or turn it, it almost always boiled down to a 5 or 6% increase.
Then we voted for a change. So hopeful was I that day in the voting booth; there I was, with expectations maybe higher than Mount Everest! But who could blame me? I so believed in the ‘the good life’ that was promised. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not in it for the money, but for a family man with three children, I must say money matters. In the recent past we got what we deemed a ‘measly’ uniform allowance of $7,000 for the year. For 2016, we are yet to be blessed with this.
Can someone say what is going on? I have seen the release by the government about the proposed increase for public servants, which to me is no different to what it used to be in the past, but what about teachers? The GTU has made an almost impossible demand (but I guess when Ministers can give themselves 50% increase in salaries, anything is possible) but where are we at this stage? Half of the year has gone, soon three quarter of it will be done and nothing yet? Not even a murmur? Where is the Union when you need them? I remember how haughty we were just before election; the Union promised that whether or not the administration had changed, we would continue to pressure the Government until our demands were met.
I am by no means a politician, but I guess since I’ve voted for the first time in my life, I have to make my voice heard. Budget 2016 has passed, each Government Ministry would have been allocated a piece of the pie, education included, now here’s the baffling thing: I did not hear how much money in the budget was allocated for wage increase, and even more troubling for me is that the Government inherited a bankrupt economy (according to the post-election statements) Where are they going to pull the billions out from to pay us? (I’m sure it has to be retroactive from January 2016) the questions are too much, the answers are too little or not present at all.
I still have faith in ‘the good life’ but I must warn that I am not Job, I think it’s time our new Government pull itself together and deliver, at the moment I’m feeling used and frustrated, with hope diminishing, If I am feeling this way, imagine how many more conscious populace are also feeling the same!
Wilbert Moore

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