Valies summons union members

The education process will be cut short at various schools on Thursday. Wilgo Valies, chairman of the Teachers’ Association (BvL) and the Alliance of Teachers in Suriname (ALS), has summoned teachers to an emergency union meeting which will be held in Mata Gauri. Union members have been asked to leave the schools at 10 a.m. and to attend a union meeting which will start at 11 a.m. on Thursday. The unions reportedly want to bring union members up to speed on a letter that the unions sent to the president on March 7 and the steps that will be taken. The government in its reply indicated that it has received the letter and that it would formally give an answer at a later date. In the letter that was sent to the president, the unions made it clear that the teachers do not accept the fact that they have been taken out of the FISO wage system and therefore are no longer state employees. The teachers also made it clear that the government should have consulted the unions that represent them first before making such a decision. The teachers vehemently reject the government’s one-sided decision making. The teachers also disagree with the fact that the government gave them a new employer without their consent. The teachers want clarity regarding the consequences of having to answer to a new employer. The State has assured the judge that the implementation of the revaluation will commence at the end of March. Valies hopes that the government will keep its word.