The following is a copy of the official statement delivered by Minister Rhoda Arrindell’s during the Council of Ministers Briefing that was held on Wednesday February 2nd 2011.
Press Statement
by Hon. Minister of Education, Culture, Sports & Youth Affairs, Rhoda Arrindell.
Council of Ministers Press Briefing.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011.
Madame Prime Minister,
Members of the Media,
Residents of our beloved St. Martin,
Good Morning.
In every conflict, the first casualty is the truth. During the last week, a situation has arisen where emotions have flared, frustrations have been vented, and the truth, in my view, has been buried under the confusion that some have tried to label a "national crisis". If there is a "crisis", indeed, that "crisis" is that of the truth. I am happy that after all that has happened, tempers seem to be cooling, and an agreement has been brokered, which, at least, may now allow the truth to emerge.
What is the truth in this situation?
These are the facts: From Thursday, January 27th 2011, teachers have responded to the call of their union to meet during school hours to discuss government proposals regarding how and when their Cost of Living Allowance would be paid. Their action has disrupted the normal educational process for four consecutive school days, and children who should be receiving an education have been deprived of this through the action of the teachers.
The teachers’ action, which took most people by surprise, including the school boards and myself, because I had no prior notification of it, resulted in my announcing after the second day, which was last Friday, that the following Monday was a regular school day and that the "no work no pay" regulation would be applied to teachers who did not show up to teach.
Up to this moment, I was as some people said to me, the "darling of the teachers and the media." The teachers specifically indicated that their beef was not against me but against the minister of finance. However, I became the target of vicious personal attacks, which as they say, comes with the territory, the moment I tried to remind the teachers of the reason we are all in this: in other words, that the children have a right to an education.
Subsequent to that, on January 31st the Ministry met with representatives of ALL the school boards and I later announced that same day what the decisions arrived at unanimously at that meeting were.
Just to refresh your memories, these were the salient decisions reached at that meeting:
1.All parties reaffirmed the principles of no work, no pay, and in this particular case, this takes effect, today, January 31, 2011.
2.Students are supposed to be in school during school hours, in accordance with the law on Compulsory Education.
3.The Ministry respects the rights of the teachers to assemble; however, this should not be to the detriment of the education of children or at the inconvenience of parents.
4.The school boards informed the Ministry that they had not been notified by the union of the action to be taken by the teachers.
5.The school boards expressed the opinion shared by the Ministry that industrial action should be used as a last resort, when all other forms of negotiations have been exhausted, rather than taking action on the spur of the moment, without any consultation with the Ministry, school boards, and other stakeholders.
6.It was also decided that the days lost will be made up to the children before the end of the current school year.
7.The Minister maintains her open-door policy and looks forward to continuing the dialogue between teachers and their representatives in the interest of the education of our children.
You all know what has transpired between then and the new agreement that the Council of Ministers reached yesterday with the leaders of the unions representing the teachers, civil servants, etc. in this conflict.
The question should be posed, what was the real issue in all of this action?
Let me state categorically that the issue was NEVER one of a salary dispute between teachers and their employers. The teachers have received and will continue to receive their salaries.
It was NEVER a worker’s dispute, either, where it concerns teachers. The issue was in my humble view, a question of how and when to pay the balance of the 5.3% (3.3%) indexation or cost of living adjustments promised to teachers.
Government, this government, as far as I know, has never refused to pay this, but has given reasons why it cannot do so before July . At no time did government say that the teachers would not be paid what is due to them.
It then became a question of trust and of respect. I want here to say without any reservation that if anyone feels disrespected by whatever I may have said, I sincerely regret it and apologize because I believe strongly that teachers and the teaching profession deserve respect. However, respect begets respect. It is a two-way street.
Teachers in South Korea are considered "nation builders". I consider St. Martin teachers to be nation builders also. Their building blocks are the children in their care. These children have a right to the best education we can offer them. That is what I want for my two children, and I’m sure that is what each and every one of you wants for yours too.
All of us in education must be mindful of the fact that if there were no students, there would be no teachers, and there would be no Ministry of Education. Let us all remember why we are all employed: to educate students. If there were any serious issues at stake regarding teachers’ welfare, I remain ready and willing to discuss them. That has been my position from day one.
At the end of the day, if the education of the child is our main focus, then it behooves everyone, including teachers and their union, to always take that into consideration in whatever action they may take.
I maintain: there is no conflict between the Minister and teachers or their union. There is no crisis.
I took office on October 10, 2010. I held meetings with the WITU on October 28, November 5, November 26, and December 17, 2010. At no time in our deliberations, even after I informed the board of WITU of the proposed instalmental payment of the Cost of Living Allowance, or the so-called indexation, did I get the impression that there was a conflict, a crisis, or even a major disagreement that would warrant students being denied education for almost a whole week.
For my part, I’ve always shown good will and acted in good faith. But in this case, I do not feel these have been reciprocated.
What has driven me throughout all of this is the belief that the more than 7,000 children in our schools should not become the innocent victims of this unfortunate but really simple issue of when the balance of 3.3% of a 5.3% allowance should be paid: in five months time, or next month! As the saying goes, when two elephants fight, the grass is the victim. The grass in this case are the children.
For clarity sake, the following are the agreements reached between the Council of Ministers and the unions yesterday:
1.As the Prime Minister stated, it was already made clear to the union that, as a compromise made during the discussions, in lieu of the implementation of the "no work, no pay" policy, the Minister of Education will contact the School boards to discuss a possible alternative to the agreed upon application of the "no work, no pay policy" for teachers who were absent from school without a valid reason, which alternative is that the time missed will be made up to the students.
2.That further dialogue will continue between the Minister of Education and the WITU with regard to the implementation of either "no work, no pay" or making up for the missed days before exams or at the closing of the academic year.
These were among the agreements reached. I sincerely hope that these agreements will stick and we can all return to doing what we are really here to do: to serve St. Martin and its people, to the very best of our ability. We have a lot of work to do to build this nation, one child at a time. It is a responsibility we cannot shirk.
I want to thank all who worked on reaching this agreement and would like to end by asking those responsible leaders out there to lead by example, and not play politics with our children’s education.
I thank you.