National Strike updates/ watch/ News

[~Vēġó~]

wilson saying one thing but I am hearing a very different story......pulled a duke is what I have been hearing there Skidz.....many will be very unhappy with what the union is settling for....

[KURMAman]

Now, ah sorry he lorse he house eh, but yuh cyar blame d teachers if you didn't teach your seven year old child NOT to play with fire.

Alan Maloney, you lose at life.

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Boy ... 05821.html

Boy sets house on fire with lighter
Story Created: Dec 1, 2012 at 10:57 PM ECT
Story Updated: Dec 2, 2012 at 6:08 AM ECT

A STE MADELEINE four-bedroom house was destroyed by fire on Friday after a seven-year-old boy played with a cigarette lighter on the premises.
The father of the boy and owner of the house, Alan Maloney, of Manahambre Road, said he left his son alone at home to go on a job.

Maloney said: "Teachers were on strike and he did not go to school. Parents, this is a lesson. Never leave children at home alone."

Fire broke out at the concrete and wooden house around 2.30 p.m.
Neighbour Nyron Hamid said: "I went with a hose, and the other neighbours formed a bucket brigade to out the fire. But the flames and the heat were too much. We couldn't go close to the house, we couldn't save anything."

Fire tenders from the Mon Repos Fire Station arrived at the scene and extinguished the blaze.
Maloney, a refrigerator and stove repairman, said he went to Hope Road, Princes Town, on a job.
He said the child told him he was playing with a lighter under the house, and papers caught afire. When the flames grew, the boy ran to a neighbour's house.

Maloney said his son's schoolbooks, uniforms, toys, and personal items were destroyed. The child is a Standard Two pupil of the Ste Madeleine Government Primary School.
"My son already got some Christmas presents and everything burned up. He is very upset about that," Maloney said.

He said he is seeking the public's assistance and he can be contacted at 340-4800.

14-day-old baby fed prune juice, coconut water

Story Created: Dec 15, 2012 at 10:58 PM ECT

Story Updated: Dec 16, 2012 at 11:01 AM ECT

PORT of Spain Divisional officers yesterday continued investigations into the death of a 14-day-old East Dry River, Port of Spain baby who died last week as a result of blunt force trauma to the back of her head.

The child's 16-year-old mother is currently in police custody following the death of the child named Phylicia who lived with her mother at Pitchery Lane, off Duke Street.

Her home is near where another baby, called Jinayah, was allegedly bitten by her father a few days earlier.

Police said around 7 p.m. last Thursday, the baby was brought to the Port of Spain General Hospital by her mother who told doctors the baby kept vomiting and would not stop.

The teenager further told them she thought it was indigestion and she fed the baby coconut water and prune juice, but when the child's condition was not improving she decided to take her to the hospital.

Last Friday a postmortem was done and it was determined that Phylicia died as a result of a blow to the back of her head.

Supt Ajith Persad of the Port of Spain Division is spear-heading this enquiry. —GG

[RBphoto]

^^^^ How that relevant to thread?

[KURMAman]

whoops my bad...was copying that for my cousin. i do apologize.

[Swisha]

TTUTA mum on new deal

Union, CPO 'finalise agreement' today


TEACHERS called off a planned protest at Harris Promenade, San Fernando yesterday after learning that the State had made a new and higher wage offer.

Members of the Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers Association (TTUTA) and Chief Personnel Officer (CPO) Stephanie Lewis met on Saturday where the offer was made.

However, according TTUTA's second vice-president Orville Carrington, "We are not at liberty at this time to divulge what that information or what that new proposal is. So once there is an agreement, we will make a release to the media about what it is."

Questioned about the issue at a news conference yesterday at his St Clair office, Education Minister Dr Tim Gopeesingh said the TTUTA negotiation process was "almost coming to an end" and noted that yesterday's march was called off.

"And I believe the settlement is almost imminent and I believe with a well-motivated teaching service based on their remunerations they will continue to excel in their profession," he said.
He added: "I want to commend all the 16,000-plus teachers for their tremendous work over the number of years, some (for) 30, 35 years."

He said since he has been Education Minister over the past two and a half years "we have been given tremendous support by our teachers, principals and supervisors and of course by the parents as well".
Over the past few months, teachers have been complaining and protesting the time taken to settle the negotiations.

They have also taken several days off from school to "rest and reflect."

The first offer by the CPO was a five per cent increase and the second offer was an eight per cent increase.

One senior teacher of a school in South Trinidad said all staff members from that school had planned to protest yesterday but they were " happy" there may not be a need to anymore.

He said even though he did not know all the details about the negotiation, whatever was offered must have been more than eight per cent in order for the march to be cancelled.

The teacher said, "It must be a positive thing so we wait with bated breath to see what is going to take place. We go along with the union, they are doing the best they can. We know that for a fact. They are trying to get something that is close to 13 per cent. The last offer the CPO made was eight per cent. Why we are not having the march today means that something has happened over the weekend but there is no information as yet as to what was actually offered so we just have to wait and see."

TTUTA first vice-president Davanand Sinanan in a previous Express report had stated that jobs in the Teaching Service were matched with jobs outside of the service and the salaries of the comparable jobs were obtained through the external labour market survey which is carried out jointly by the CPO and TTUTA.

Since 2009 TTUTA has been waiting for the CPO to complete the external labour market survey and teachers were "extremely frustrated at the slow pace of negotiations," Sinanan said. Carrington said yesterday the union and CPO would meet today where the agreement will be finalised.

Trinidad Express

[Swisha]

PRESS RELEASE

The Chief Personnel Officer (CPO) and the Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers’ Association (T&TUTA) have reached an agreement on revised salaries and other terms and conditions of employment applicable to officers of the Teaching Service represented by T&TUTA for the period October 1, 2008 to September 30, 2011.

During meetings leading up to the agreement, the parties undertook a comprehensive review of the methodology used to revise salaries since the implementation of the results of a Job Evaluation Exercise for the Teaching Service in 2000.

During the negotiations, agreement was reached on:

• Principles to be observed in the revision of salaries

• Benchmarks and comparator positions to be used in the conduct of the salary survey

• Organisations to be surveyed

• Salaries of comparator jobs in the External Labour Market

• The steps to be employed in determining actual revised salaries for members of the Teaching Service.

The agreement provides for Teachers in Grades 3 and 4 of the Compensation Plan to receive 83% and 82%, respectively, of the Full Market Salaries. The existing salary differentials between the other grades were then maintained.

The Parties have also agreed to a new Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) of $125, $125, $145 per month in years 1 to 3 of the agreement respectively.

A revised Commuted Travelling Allowance of $600 per month has been agreed to for all Principals and Vice Principals and the payment of this Allowance has been extended to all Senior Teachers.

The parties have agreed to continue to work in the best interest of education and the nation and in this regard discussions in respect of the 2011 – 2014 negotiation period are to commence by the end of January 2013.

https://www.facebook.com/CCNTV6/posts/472561159452748

[*$kїđž!™]

wow...some great news for those teachers.....wonder how much 83% of the Market salary for the grade 3 and 4 would work out to be?

[ingalook]

8-10% union sold us out... the Government knew teachers were getting ready to hit them hard this new term, so they rushed to "settle" in the holidays... teachers aren't to happy with TTUTA right now

[*$kїđž!™]

8-10% union sold us out... the Government knew teachers were getting ready to hit them hard this new term, so they rushed to "settle" in the holidays... teachers aren't to happy with TTUTA right now

so ingalook thats prob like a $900 increase.....after tax may be a ah lil $600 extra?,..

[De Dragon]

8-10% union sold us out... the Government knew teachers were getting ready to hit them hard this new term, so they rushed to "settle" in the holidays... teachers aren't to happy with TTUTA right now

[~Vēġó~]

^^^^you laugh...you eh read the part that says that they would be entering negotiations for 2011-2014 at the end of january 2013....that may mean moar rest and reflection!!!!

[De Dragon]

^^^^you laugh...you eh read the part that says that they would be entering negotiations for 2011-2014 at the end of january 2013....that may mean moar rest and reflection!!!!

S'ok dais ah whole year away!

[cinco]

8-10% union sold us out... the Government knew teachers were getting ready to hit them hard this new term, so they rushed to "settle" in the holidays... teachers aren't to happy with TTUTA right now

you all should ask when this was agreed upon
Dey musee agree on that since early this year and was just pulling stones
just like how d public servants get d shaft

[Hook]

Check this eh

http://m.guardian.co.tt/news/2012-12-23 ... n-psa-head

A copy of WASA’s Recommended Employee’s for promotion Phase Two, obtained by the Sunday Guardian. The list, near the bottom of the photo, shows that Watson Duke, a Hydrological Technician, has been recommended for the vacant post of Research Specialist.


Public Services Association (PSA) President Watson Duke is being recommended for a promotion to the post of research specialist at the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA)—a position he is unable to fill. And, while new acting CEO Gerard Yorke is denying there has been any such recommendation, investigations show otherwise.

Duke, who was elected head of the PSA in 2009, is among several employees who were recommended in September for promotion at the authority. A copy of the listing, titled Recommended Employees for Promotion Phase Two, obtained by the Sunday Guardian, lists Duke’s substantive post in Range 42 as a hydrological technician.

Investigations revealed Duke received a salary of $10, 579 before applying for no-pay leave to take up his post at PSA. However, on the basis of the recommendation, Duke has been pushed to Range 67, with effect from 2009. The post is listed as vacant. Employees in Range 67 are paid a salary of $17,375.

PSA selling out
The recommendation, Sunday Guardian learned, has angered several employees, who are questioning how Duke could be promoted while on leave. A senior human resource employee explained, “It is a case of negotiating for himself to himself. “This agreement was between WASA and PSA. Duke is the head of the PSA and he was recommended for the promotion.

“There are several qualified persons who can do the job but they have been bypassed. “When you are on no-pay leave all you retain is your service. You return to the position you left. You cannot be promoted. It is several questionable things taking place at WASA and everyone is just turning a blind eye.”

The PSA representative is Leroy Baptiste. Contacted for comment, he said, “Only one person could give information relating to PSA, and that is Watson Duke.” While Duke is not entitled to back pay while on leave, if he accepts WASA’s Voluntary Separation Enhancement Package he will be paid on par with the recent recommendation.



WASA CEO: Don’t be on Duke
So how exactly did Duke’s name end up on the listing agreed by WASA and PSA? No one can say. While Yorke is adamant that no such listing exists, Duke, when contacted on Friday, did not deny or confirm the promotion. Duke said only, “I have received no official correspondence. As a result, I will be unable to comment.”

Yorke, however, took issue with questions posed to him about the recommendation to promote Duke, and replied, “I know nothing about that. I will have to investigate this. “He was seconded to the PSA. Whenever he leaves from where he is, Duke has to come back to WASA at some position.

“What is the problem? Maybe you need to go and do research on people working for ten years who are not being promoted, instead of studying Watson Duke. There are many others. Why be on Duke?” Yorke telephoned the Sunday Guardian again on Friday evening to say, “I did my investigations and there is no such recommendation for Watson Duke.”

The controversy surrounding Duke is nothing new, though. Since being elected PSA president he has been involved in several verbal confrontations with members of the executive relating to his job and spending habits. In April last year, Duke was accused of “selling out” workers after he accepted a five per cent wage increase offer from the Government for public servants.

Members expressed outrage over Duke’s decision to settle, saying they had been left in the dark over the settlement. In September the T&T Guardian reported exclusively on the appointment of Simon Bahaw to the position of telecommunications manager at WASA. Bahaw previously worked as a customer service representative at the authority, earning a salary of $7,500.

He admitted to obtaining his degree from an unaccredited university. The Canterbury University in the UK is described as a “diploma mill,” associated with the Web site instantdegrees.com . With the promotion, Bahaw receives a salary of $25,000 with perks that include vehicle, travelling, telephone allowances and commuted overtime.

[neilsingh100]

Teachers new salaries...

[~Vēġó~]

wait nah dais all dem does make???? WTF!!!!

[pete]

What is a grade 4 teacher?

[noshownogo]

I've been told that most teachers are grade 2/3

[veedubtt]

teachers 3 is grade 4. most teachers with a degree in secondary school are grade 4 teacher 3s.

[*$kїđž!™]

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Tim ... 82561.html

Tim thinks about exposing absenteeism
'I have the files on teachers'

By Camille Bethel camille.bethel@trinidadexpress.com
Story Created: Mar 5, 2013 at 11:13 PM ECT
Story Updated: Mar 5, 2013 at 11:33 PM ECT
Minister of Education Dr Tim Gopeesingh yesterday contemplated whether or not to divulge three years of statistics on the continuous problem of teacher absenteeism and punctuality at the nation's schools.
Addressing principals, vice-principals and school supervisors at a leadership presentation for primary and secondary school principals with award-winning American teacher and motivational speaker Ron Clark, at the Centre of Excellence, Macoya, Gopeesingh said he had the statistics on teacher absenteeism for 2010, 2011 and 2012.
"Should I let the nation know what the real situation is? Do I publish it? If I publish it would I be demotivating the good teachers? Should I work with you all as principals with your teachers? Of what benefit would it be if I tell the nation the facts of absenteeism, punctuality etc.
"Is there a rationale for doing it as a responsible Minister of Education. What should I do, of what advantage would it be if I tell the nation that this is the situation?"
Gopeesingh opted to keep the statistics close to his chest.
"I prefer to work with you all as principals and I ask you all here today do your best as administrators to work with your teachers. Try to motivate them, encourage them, see how you can transform some of them."
Gopeesingh told the officials disciplinary action is not a favourable option since the Teaching Service Commission's tribunal gets no results.
"So principals, my appeal to you is that the buck stops with you as the buck stops with me."
He also told the principals that the ministry wants to help them to continue to develop their skills and asked the secondary school principals, just as he last week asked primary schools principals, to say what areas they would like to have training that would help them remain on the cutting edge in the nation, the region and the hemisphere.
"Tell us what you would like to have done for you from the Ministry of Education to assist you in continuing to be the leader that you are and to be moving forward, whether it is cutting edge technology or technical skills in education."
The minister gave them his e-mail address so they could send their requests to him personally.
"I cherish you, I want to work with you," he said.
Clark, who has worked with disadvantaged pupils in rural North Carolina and in inner-city Harlem, spoke of his success in working with disrespectful and violent pupils as he conducted an energetic and interactive three-hour session.
Having visited several schools in Laventille and Belmont with the minister on Monday, Clark, who had the opportunity to interact with the teachers, principals and pupils, said he saw the difficult situations under which some of them operated and his heart went out to them.
But he stressed: "The people who can change this country, more than the police, more than the Prime Minister or the President, are in this room. Pour love into your kids, when you talk with these kids you have to connect with them, show them that you care. You can't give up."
Clark said although it is not easy and can be trying, when he works with problematic pupils he always thinks about how reaching the difficult pupil could possibly save the life of his family members, whose life could be at risk if the pupil were to get into a life of crime if he gave up on them.
"We have to see potential in these kids and find ways to make it happen."

[*$kїđž!™]

they doing like is only teachers does take days off....

I wonder if tim knows that teachers do have days to take off... that ttuta fought for

[*$kїđž!™]

THINKING BOUT BECOMING A PE TEACHER...NOW

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/PE_ ... 82501.html

PE teacher gets close to $1m
Shot-put slug falls on foot...

By Keino Swamber keino.swamber@trinidadexpress.com
Story Created: Mar 5, 2013 at 11:13 PM ECT
Story Updated: Mar 5, 2013 at 11:32 PM ECT
A physical education teacher, whose ability to work was cut short after a 13-pound shot-put slug fell on her foot seven years ago, has been awarded close to one million dollars in compensation by a Master of the High Court.
Ann-Marie Charles, who now resides in Toronto, Canada, was teaching at the Malabar Composite School when the incident occurred at around 9.45 a.m. on September 6, 2006.
Charles, 47, was in the physical education storeroom when the iron slug rolled off a shelf, from a height of about five feet, and landed on her right foot.
In her lawsuit in which she was represented by attorneys Kent Samlal and Abdel Mohammed, Charles said she immediately cried out in pain. With the assistance of a member of the school's maintenance staff, Charles sat on a chair and removed her shoe to assess the injury.
"I saw that my right ankle was already changing colour to reddish blue and beginning to start swelling," Charles said.
"I tried to get up and walk but I could not. The pain from my foot made me collapse back onto my seat. I could not place any weight on my ankle or foot at all."
Charles said the pain from the injury was the most intense pain she ever experienced in her life.
She was taken to the Arima Health Facility where her foot was examined. Charles was told that her foot was not broken but that she had suffered ligament damage. She was ordered to keep off her foot and was given five days sick leave. Charles said her ankle had swollen to twice its normal size and had become blue-black.
Unable to return to work at the end of the five-day period, Charles went to the Casualty department of the Port of Spain General Hospital where her foot was again examined and she was given three days sick leave.
She decided to visit her family doctor on September 15, 2006 and was referred to an orthopaedic surgeon whom she continued to visit for three years. The orthopaedic surgeon, in March 2009, advised Charles that she would have to undergo surgery to reduce her pain.
An MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scan was ordered by another orthopaedic surgeon to whom Charles went for a second opinion and she was also advised that she needed surgical intervention to reconstruct the ligament in her ankle.
Surgery was performed on July 11, 2009 at a private nursing home and complete bed rest was ordered for two months.
Charles said since her injury she is unable to stand on her foot for over 10 to 15 minutes without experiencing pain. She now walks with the aid of a walking stick and is unable to drive.
Through her attorneys from Freedom House Chambers, Charles filed a lawsuit in September 2010 against the State on the ground of negligence.
The State was ordered by Master Patricia Sobion-Awai to pay special damages in the sum of $64,899.79 with interest in the sum of $25,232.22, general damages in the sum of $80,000 with interest in the sum of $23,827.80, loss of future earnings in the sum of 724,340.88 and legal costs in the sum of $59,514.89. The amount totalled $977,815.58.

[stev]

i jus see on facebook that petrotrin on strike.....cud be BS.....allyuh hear anything?

[pioneer]

Now we know why everyone wants to be a teacher but they don't care to teach.

[hustla_ambition101]

i jus see on facebook that petrotrin on strike.....cud be BS.....allyuh hear anything?

Dem on strike days now

[RBphoto]

i jus see on facebook that petrotrin on strike.....cud be BS.....allyuh hear anything?

Dem on strike days now

Since Wednesday I heard. Still don't know why there is traffic there in the moring if there is strike.

[Allergic2BunnyEars]

Not official strike yet. Last three days have been protests with the plants running for the most part. Admin building was blocked off in Point-a-Pierre for the most part. Official strikes need to be declared days in advance. You will know on the news when this happens.

[TriP]

Police officers stand guard at the Bond section of the Petrotrin Refinery along the Southern Main Road, Pointe-a-Pierre, to allow the tank wagons to enter to be filled with gasoline.

http://www.newsday.co.tt/day/1,63774.html#foto

[TriP]

MAKE WAY: Guard and Emergency Branch officers clear a path for a gas truck to enter Petrotrin's compound in Pointe-a-Pierre yesterday during a protest by employees

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Pol ... 39861.html

[~Vēġó~]

so how come this does not generate the level of public ire that other striking bodies do?