Bahamas Union of Teachers (BUT) President Belinda Wilson clarified alleged rumors circulating on social media that she said indicates public servants are receiving monies.  However, she added that teachers are not a part of it as negotiations on finances has yet to be discussed. 

“All these WhatsApps flying around about money, that [isn’t] us,” Mrs. Wilson told The Bahama Journal.

“It seems like a lot of people are sending around a WhatsApp about monies that public servants are getting, but I want to make it clear that the Bahamas Union of Teachers in our negotiations, we have not reached the financial aspect of our agreement as yet.”

 
Negotiations with BUT and the Ministry of Education (MOE) are on a “summer break”, according to the president, who said at this time the ministry is conducting interviews for the new school year. 

She added that members of the BUT and the ministry are traveling, as well as preparing for schools’ reopening at the end of August, and said the teams will return to the table for negotiations on September 18. 

Mrs. Wilson and Minister of Education Jeffery Lloyd indicated that they were hopeful for the quick turnaround time with negotiations.  However, Mrs. Wilson said this length of time is normal for negotiations. 

“We were hoping that it would not take long, but I also said that my experience is that I’ve never had any negotiations that took less than nine months,” Mrs. Wilson said. 

Mrs. Wilson added that negotiations are going well so far.