President of the Bahamas Union of Teachers (BUT) Belinda Wilson has been suspended once again, according to Minister of Education, Science, and Technology Jerome Fitzgerald.

Without detailing the reasons as to why Mrs. Wilson is under suspension, Mr. Fitzgerald said yesterday that her suspension will not impact pending negotiations with the union.

“We received information last week that the president of the union Belinda Wilson was suspended by the executive for three months until the end of June. So, we have indicated that we will begin negotiations now again with the union executives on the understanding that we’re trying to really bring the matter to a close with the Bahamas Union of Teachers,” Mr. Fitzgerald said.

“It’s unfortunate and we want to ensure that the teachers are not caught in the middle of this and so we’re hoping to bring particular financial arrangements to a close relatively quickly,” he added.

According to Mr. Fitzgerald, over $3.5 million has already been paid out to teachers in back pay. However, there are still some funds left to be paid.

He noted that once the remainder of funds is paid out, negotiations will come to a close.

“We have about another million we intend to pay before the close of this budget year. We’re finalizing that now and that will take care of all of the backlog for the last 14 or 15 years and with regard to the financial commitment within the union agreement,” Mr. Fitzgerald said.

Mrs. Wilson was suspended late last year for six months amid claims that she misused union funds. Eventually, that suspension was lifted.

The Bahama Journal was unable to reach Mrs. Wilson for comments.