And switching now to labour matters, is the Green Machine Gearing up again for industrial action?
Well that's what their members want. At meetings held by all the BNTU district branches yesterday, 1882 out of 1916 members voted in favour of demonstrating in January.
And it's about unpaid allowances and increments. Their president, Nadia Caliz says more than half of their members have not received increments or salary upgrades in the past year as promised by GOB even after applying.
Caliz says that they've commenced the planning process for a demonstration while keeping the doormen to dialogue:
Nadia Caliz, BNTU, President
"So our data showed at that time that at least 75% of our membership did not get anything, anything well the ones who responded right so we are talking about those who responded: nothing. Later on when November came and they didn't get anything every single person they reached out to us and that proved then at that time we are looking somewhere around 90% of our membership. Aand when I talk about membership I want to make it clear here you have the BNTU membership and those are the persons who meet the three months or more and then we have our enrollment because we have people that are coming in and they've only paid one month."
"And so the votes cast last night gave the BNTU the mandate to act on this and treat it with urgency and as usual when we are getting ready for any form of industrial action we have to follow due process and due process goes like this. There is a black and white that goes to the ministry of education outlining what the teachers are asking for and it that is not adhered to or followed any at all then there's where you go into what we call. Right now they have voted for a demonstration in January there's no date set for that because we have to allow for the dialogue and the other portion to take place so the black and white leaves our office today for the ministry of education."
