And at the end of the most recent letter, the prime minister reminded all public officers that their salaries would be docked if they continued striking. But many would rather take no salaries now rather than a 10% cut for three years.
And while they face that reality, the BNTU is also aware of that possibility for them. However in their case, it's not the government who makes that decision. Fonseca explained how it works.
Hon. Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education
"As it relates to public officers obviously the government makes that determination, so the ministry of finance, ministry of the public service makes that determination. In terms of teachers, the government schools of course fall under the managements of the ministry of education, so there is a manager of government schools who falls under the ministry of education, so there is no confusion about that. It is the ministry of education that makes that determination through their manager, the manager of government schools. As it relates to other teachers who work for denominational managing authorities, it is the managing authorities who make that determination. They, under the education rules have the discretion, they may or may not withhold salaries, deduct those wages. So, yes we've been very clear about that. I've said that from the very beginning. That is the case and we do have discussions with the managing authorities. There are discussions, but ultimately they make that determination as it relates to managing authorities of denominational schools."
