And the police are planning to charge some of the members who were involved in that very animated Dangriga protest. They say that while they respect the right to demonstrate, that it should be done, quote, "within the confines of the law."
Well, the Dangriga branch of the BNTU won't take the charges lying down. The secretary, Ifasina Efunyemi explained that the teachers aren't only fighting for themselves, but for all public officers, including the police.
Ifasina Efunyemi, Secretary, BNTU Stann Creek Branch
"We are engaged in industrial action and that means that we are raising awareness and registering our discontent. The irony, even the embarrassment and hypocrisy of the police department's statement against us is the fact that a, like the labor commissioner stated last week, essential services cannot take industrial action because of the threat to national security so when the teachers hit the streets, we don't only hit the streets for ourselves, we hit the streets for the police department as well. They too did not get their 8.5%, they need their 8.5% just like the rest of us. They too are 3 points behind on the pay scale. They too had 10% of their salaries taken from them and yet they will now scroll through the laws to find a reason to arrest and charge teachers? When they sit and negotiate with criminals? Well I don't have any guns to give the police and I cannot tell them any tips about any drugs they can find. So I don't have that as a bargaining chip, what I have as a bargaining chip is the fact that we have the same issues in common with each other."
