WITU wants to start
CLA talks with Govt
MADAME ESTATE--As the salary scales committee winds down its work for new salary scales for educators and other government personnel, Windward Islands Teachers Union (WITU) wants to meet with government to start negotiations for a new Collective Labour Agreement (CLA) for its members in the teaching sector.
The union sent a letter to the Executive Council some two weeks ago, requesting a meeting to start CLA talks, WITU President Claire Elshot said Thursday.
The union had proposed that the meeting be held on Wednesday, August 1, and although the union has not yet received a response, Elshot is still hopeful that these discussions can take place soon.
She said the union, which recently elected a new board, wanted to forge a good working relationship with government. She said once the CLA talks started with government, the union would proceed to hold similar discussions with the various school boards.
The union held a meeting at its Madame Estate office on Thursday to update its board on the developments pertaining to this issue and to the progress being made with the salary scales.
Elshot said the Salary Scales Committee was winding down its work with regard to new scales for teachers. She said the union would have liked the new scales, which have been an item of discussion for many years, to have gone into effect this month so that teachers could receive their salaries under new scales by the end of August, the first month of the 2007-2008 academic year.
