Last night you heard the President of the Orange Walk branch of the Teachers’
Union explaining why her membership cannot support the revisions to the Education
Act. That position is not in line with the national executive of the Teachers’
Union but the position from the union is that each district branch has its issues
and a degree of autonomy.
Well, today Education Minister Patrick Faber wrote the President of the Teachers
Union Jaime Panti to tell him that he is concerned about the statements made
by the Orange Walk Branch’s President. Faber calls it “misinformation
about the...teaching services commission... (and)...riddled with misrepresentations
and a lack of understanding of the facts.”
For proof, Faber points to the allegation made by the Orange Walk President
on this newscast last night that 50% of the members of the Teaching Services’
Commission are government affiliated. He says that in fact only two and at the
most three of the eleven members are government affiliated. The branch president
also criticized the lack of union representation on the appeals tribunal. Faber
says the union can represent a teacher in an appeal to the tribunal.
Faber concludes that, “that these views are not those of the larger
Union” and asks, provocatively, “Are branches free to operate on
their own even when they are undermining the spirit of cooperation that the
rest of us are working so hard to maintain?”
He concludes by warning that the Ministry cannot sit by and take attacks that
are based on misinformation. The ball is now in the court of the union which
– last we checked – doesn’t take well to public scolding.
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