TTUTA on a Tuesday

Inclusion – is our society ready for it?

FROM 2012 to 2015, the TT Unified Teachers’ Association (TTUTA) entered into a collaborative partnership with the Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF) to provide a two-week in-service development training workshop for general education classroom teachers with an emphasis on children with special education needs in the mainstream classroom. Additional support for this initiative was provided by the Ministry of Education and the then Division of Education, Youth and Sports of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA).

School Rules and the Law of the Land – July 04, 2023

IN FEBRUARY 1995, Justice Gopeesingh and the Court of Appeal of TT handed down a landmark judgement in the matter of Sumayyah Mohammed (minor) versus Moraine et al, wherein a Muslim pupil challenged the refusal of the school, Holy Name Convent, to allow her to vary the school’s uniform code to include the wearing of a hijab.

Recalibrating Labour Agenda – June 27, 2023

IT IS noteworthy that following the recent Labour Day observances there have been calls, out of genuine concerns and not for the first time, for union leaders to undertake a serious review of the labour agenda and the role labour and by extension trade unions should be playing in a technology-driven knowledge economy where the nature of work has undergone significant evolution, especially in the past decade.

A most brutal realization

It is heartening to know that no less a person than the Prime Minister has finally and openly acknowledged the stark connection between our dysfunctional education system and the elevated level of crime and criminality plaguing the country.

Teacher Absenteeism: another look – February 14, 2023

TIME AND time again the issue of teacher absenteeism has been highlighted as one of the major contributors to school violence and student indiscipline, especially in our secondary schools.

While there is merit in this statement, one must be careful to examine the reasons why teachers are absent from school or are present in school but not in their respective classrooms. Indeed, the picture that is being painted gives a distorted perspective on the issue and places the blame unfairly on the shoulders of teachers.

Agency Shop – February 28, 2023

TTUTA IS the recognised majority union (RMU) for Schedule 1 (Bargaining Unit 1) of 1979 and Schedule 3 (Bargaining Unit 2) of 2019 of the teaching service.

TTUTA has and continues to make collective representation for all the people in these units – members and non-members alike. These include, but are not limited to, salary negotiations, terms and conditions of employment and collective agreements.

The Importance of Worker Representation (Part I) – March 07, 2023

THE NEED for worker rights in Trinidad and Tobago dates back to the period following the abolition of indentureship where there were two distinct classes of people: ruling minority elite and the poor masses.

The Importance of Worker Representation (Part II) – March 14, 2023

PART II

AS WE continue to explore the importance of worker representation, history would have taught us the agenda of the trade union is integral to and intertwined with the struggle for the preservation of human rights and democracy.

Just as the price of democracy is eternal vigilance, likewise the continued survival of trade unions is contingent upon the extent to which the working class is prepared to join hands in solidarity to protect and preserve hard-fought worker rights won over decades of struggle.