Bahamas Union of Teachers (BUT) President Belinda Wilson said Tuesday that negotiations between the union and officials at the Department of Labour are not going as smoothly as she would like and added that the BUT is possibly seeking to have some of the matter heard in court.

“We are looking at all of our options,” she said. “Some of the matters have been resolved already, however, there are some matters that are unresolved and we are looking at our options of going to the Industrial Tribunal, we’re also looking at our options of going to the Supreme Court on one or two of the matters.

Several weeks ago the BUT filed six trade disputes with the department and Mrs. Wilson said over the past three days the two sides have been in lengthy talks trying to clear them up.

But when it comes to some of the more controversial issues, Mrs. Wilson said the talks have stalled and they might just need to get international help on those topics.

“The issues of unions being denied access, health and safety in the workplace, those are matters we are in discussions about,” she said.

“We are mined to actually writ the International Labour Organisation (ILO) because they need to be aware of some of the concerns we presently have.

“For the union to be denied success on school campuses they are preventing us from representing our members and this is in direct contravention of ILO laws.

“We will take every avenue we need to take to make sure the union remains relevant, the union remains strong and that our members are protected.”

Negotiations are on hold now and will resume Monday September 23.

Mrs. Wilson also lamented the fact that there is still a teacher shortage, specifically at North Andros High School, Preston Albury School, North Eleuthera High School, San Salvador primary and secondary school and noted that more than 20 prospective teachers have not yet entered the system because they have not yet cleared security.