War of words erupts at JTA conference over salary agreement suit
MOUNTAIN SPRING, Trelawny — An apparent rift within Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) over the union’s acceptance of the current three-year wage agreement with the Government became obvious when a verbal clash erupted Monday, the first day of the annual conference now under way in Trelawny.
The heated discussion started during President Leighton Johnson’s presentation in which he sought to share an opinion on the legal action brought against the union by former President La Sonja Harrison when he was interrupted by several members, some of whom spoke on a point of order.
In July, Harrison filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court aimed at nullifying the agreement with the Government.
In the suit, Harrison contended that the special delegates’ vote held virtually in March last year to accept the wage offer presented by the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service was in breach of the JTA’s constitution.
The majority (80 per cent) of the delegates who attended the virtual meeting voted to accept the three-year agreement that guaranteed a 20 per cent minimum increase in basic salary after tax. The agreement took effect April 1, 2022.
Harrison, who was president at the time, had chaired the meeting.
Johnson told members during the second session of the three-day conference at Coral Ocean Spring Resort in Trelawny on Monday that such a move by a former president is costly to the association.
“It would be remiss of me if I were not to say that we, as an executive of the association, are quite concerned with the actions where members sue the JTA and force us to choose to bring such actions against the association, forcing us to expend funds from the association to defend [the association],” stated Johnson.
“Litigation is a costly process, ladies and gentlemen. The funds to defend these claims ultimately come from members’ contributions. The more we have to spend on defending claims of this nature, the less the funds the JTA has at its disposal to do more for members and their benefits,” added Johnson.
It was at this point that Johnson was interrupted by a member, Rayon Simpson, on a point of order, who claimed that he was not clear about the procedure being followed, because the secretary general presented his report and sat, and now he was hearing from the president.
“Mr President, I think it is grossly inappropriate at this juncture for a discussion to be had as to whether or not a legitimate member of the association should or should not bring legal action against the association if the individual feels that there is justice in the matter to be had,” stated Simpson.
However, Johnson explained that his comments were a continuation of the secretary general’s report.
A further interruption came with another point of order from President-Elect (2024-2025) Mark Malabver.
“I’m going to urge you, Mr President, to not proceed any further with the matter, and I’m going to stand on the point of order that was raised by Mr Simpson. It is the secretary general’s report and as such that is what we are to be accepting. Secondly, if it is that someone has brought a legal matter with respect to this there is no need to seek to colour it in the way that it is being coloured, because the matter is properly placed within the courts, and let the courts decide on this matter,” Malabver said.
Johnson tried to explain further but was again interrupted. However, he persisted.
“The matter, ladies and gentlemen, is not up for discussion; I am simply presenting to you the legal opinions we sought from our attorneys,” he said.
However, Malabver suggested that Johnson was not presenting a legal opinion; rather his own.
“That must be stricken from the record. The member is out of order because, again, he is misleading the conference. He is misleading the conference,”” stated Johnson.
The heated discussion continued for several minutes before journalists were asked to leave the room where the discussions continued.
Following the meeting, Johnson told the Jamaica Observer that the association would not be speaking publicly on the matter.
“We don’t wash our dirty linen in public. When we have matters to treat with [we] treat it and move on. This is what the association is all about. This is why the association has been in existence for 60 years, and we intend to ensure that that is protected going forward,”” stated Johnson.
A court date is yet to be set for the suit to be heard, but Johnson told the conference, that while a lawyer has been retained, the document served on the union did not have a date or court stamp. He said this was indicated to the lawyer representing Harrison.
