On Friday morning, Pointe FM broke the news that the Antigua and Barbuda Union of Teachers (A&BUT) agreed to stage industrial action today following a union meeting on Thursday night.
In a communique sent out to its members on Thursday evening, the A&BUT said the strike was intended to protest the ongoing security breaches in public schools, unfulfilled teacher upgrades and unpaid honorariums, among other grievances.
Over the weekend, Director of Education in the Ministry of Education, Clare Browne, suggested that the ministry was regretful of the A&BUT’s decision, but would nonetheless do everything possible to continue negotiations in the hope of averting today’s strike.
Browne described the A&BUT’s threat of industrial action as “unfortunate” in light of ongoing talks between the ministry and union to resolve the challenges that have become vexatious to public school educators.
He continued that the ministry will “continue to engage the Union and work aggressively with the other necessary governmental departments” to find a mutually agreeable solution to the standoff.
A meeting to discuss teachers’ concerns is scheduled to take place this morning between the Ministry of Education and A&BUT.
The A&BUT threatened similar action in the last quarter of 2022, but that was averted after emergency meetings were held in October 2022 involving the union, Ministry of Education, Royal Police Force of Antigua and Barbuda and Antigua Barbuda Defence Force (ABDF).
While other concerns were highlighted, at that time, the principal concern was that of public school security following several incidents of vandalism and a wave of savage attacks involving teenagers that were strongly linked to gang activity.
