PM Briceño Chides BNTU As 14.5% Debate Surface

On Tuesday, Minister of Public Service Henry Charles Usher argued that with the government’s proposal union members would receive a fourteen percent salary adjustment over the course of the next four years. Prime Minister John Briceño and Minister of Education Oscar Requena presented the same argument today. But the unions disagree. They contend that the reinstated increments are due to them, because the Briceno took it away during the COVID-19 pandemic. Well, according to Prime Minister Briceño, the BNTU is not being truthful. He questioned why the unions show support around the negotiation table but act differently outside.

 

Prime Minister John Briceño

“This is where they are not being quite truthful. When we asked them to take a ten percent cut and to freeze increments, we were asking for everyone to make a sacrifice. During COVID, they got their full hundred percent salaries and they were not teaching most of the time and some of them were teaching online. They got their full salary. We had about thirty percent, an unemployment rate of thirty percent and an underemployment rate of thirty percent, that people were not getting their full salaries. I think the people from Love FM got about a fifty percent cut at that time and they could not go back to their bosses and say give me back what you took away. That is a part of the sacrifice asked from everyone. So they were to sacrifice also. So, now ok they want to come back and say we want it. We acted in good faith. We asked them for the pay cut in three years we did it for one year. We asked for wage freeze for three years, we did it for two, for emoluments. So now here we coming in good faith and say we will give you back. So its like they made no sacrifice at that time. Everybody needs to do their part. We can only give what we have. It is unfortunate that they are using the students as hostages and they can continue to do so, but we cant give what we don’t have. I think what bothers me is that these leaders whenever they are in the room they are very supportive of what is proposed and they felt it is something the membership will accept but when they leave the room I don’t know what happens to that.”