An external labour market survey must be done to calculate salary increases for teachers. Members of the T&T Unified Teachers Association (TTUTA) general council made the demand during protest action outside the offices of Chief Personnel Officer Stephanie Lewis on St Vincent Street, Port-of-Spain,. The teachers are demanding that an external labour market survey be done to ensure their salaries remained competitive.
The association's president, Roustan Job, who addressed the media said: "We are here today to show our dissatisfaction with the way negotiations are going and to demand an external labour market survey be done." Job said the survey had been used for the last three sets of negotiations.
Second vice-president and head negotiator Orville Carrington explained the survey looked at a wide cross-section of salaries outside of the teaching service. Carrington said they compared the survey results to benchmark teaching salaries. He said they then worked to bring the salaries as close together as possible.
Carrington said without the survey being completed TTUTA was unable to gauge the necessary salary increases needed to keep teachers salaries in sync with the current cost of living.