Teachers growing restive over slow pace of salary talks

 

There is growing frustration among some educators this summer as the Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA) warns that its members are becoming increasingly restive. 

 

JTA President Dr. Mark Smith says yet another school term has ended without any resolution to long-standing salary and benefits negotiations. 

 

Dr. Smith is calling for the relevant stakeholders to move swiftly to address the ongoing friction, particularly issues related to compensation and pension support for retirees. 

 

He says progress has been far too slow, describing the process as moving at a snail's pace, which he warns is not sitting well with members of the JTA. 

 

"There is a need for us to become very creative in tabling solutions. I'm not particularly impressed with the progress we have made with negotiation. The JTA was the first union at the table. We were the first ones to formally engage negotiations with the government, and it has moved at the pace of cold molasses running up hill. I find that there's probably a lack of creativity on the part of many of our technocrats to solve the problems that we face, and what they have put on the table, our salary and negotiations team flatly rejected, which was 7.5 percent. That would have been zero increase in the first year, which of course is untenable," the JTA president insisted.  

 

Renewing his call for improved benefits for retired educators, Dr. Smith said while the government has made welcomed reforms to the Pension Act, many elderly teachers continue to struggle financially after leaving the profession. 

 

Speaking at the JTA Golden Torch Awards 2025 last week, Dr. Smith urged stakeholders to move beyond platitudes and implement pension benefits that truly reflect the years of service given by teachers. 

 

He also warned that unresolved pension issues continue to undermine the appeal of the teaching profession. He pointed out that many tertiary institutions have indicated their intake of individuals for teaching programmes has fallen below expectation. 

 

"When young people look at teaching and they hear the stories and see teachers struggling, it is not something that's going to inspire them to want to get in, because you're really not earning enough over the period to adequately provide that level of buffer that would be needed. There has been reform regarding pensions with the contributions we're now asked to make, but I think there is work that has to be done for those that would be outside of that adjustment." 

 

According to Dr. Smith, veteran educators must also be able to access proper healthcare services in retirement. 

 

Meanwhile, the JTA President is painting a picture of gloom, warning that more teachers are expected to leave for jobs overseas ahead of the upcoming school term.

 

He argued that while some may believe teachers will be deterred by the Trump administration, this is not the case since the US is facing a teacher shortage. The United Kingdom and other countries are also facing similar issues, he noted. 

 

"And so that's putting pressure on us.... That will ultimately be a dynamic that will undercut our wonderful macroeconomic numbers that we're looking at. In order to sustain and translate it to greater growth, we have to tackle issues of productivity, which is a human development issue - and education at the core of that transformation," he argued.

 

Dr. Smith was a guest Thursday on the Morning Agenda on Power 106 FM.