00:00The Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers Association set a deadline of seven working days for a response after it delivered
00:07a letter to Finance Minister Devindranath Tanku last Monday.
00:11That deadline comes up on March 3rd. TV6 News contacted Tutor's President Crystal Bevin-Ash for an update on the
00:18situation.
00:19Have you gotten feedback from the Ministry of Finance yet?
00:24All right, thank you very much. Unfortunately, to date being the 2nd of March, Tutor has not received any formal
00:32correspondence from the Ministry of Finance.
00:35We have not received anything by way of a letter, an email, anything like that.
00:39We are hoping that the Minister would do what he said he is going to do, which is put it
00:44in writing and send it to Tutor, because he would have indicated such last week, Tuesday.
00:48Ash says Tutor believes the time frame it provided for a response was adequate, understanding that staff at the Ministry
00:56will more than likely not work over the weekend.
00:59So Tutor is very lenient. So we're waiting patiently for that written correspondence in terms of the dates, for payment
01:06of salaries, and also the arrails in terms of the back pay.
01:10Teachers were promised their new salaries since December of 2025. Pending a response from the Finance Ministry, they plan on
01:19making a physical statement on March 3rd.
01:21Since we have not received anything, Tutor, all Tutor membership will be wearing black tomorrow, please go on.
01:28We'll be wearing black with our red ribbons, so the red ribbons remain, and all educators over Trinidad and Tobago
01:36will be wearing black, because it would seem as if communication is dead.
01:41When a funeral and a situation like that, you normally wear black.
01:43Earlier this year, there was a large percentage of absenteeism from schools around the country, as educators called in sick
01:51and children were forced to stay home.
01:54Tutor attributed it to a quote-unquote high level of stress it said that teachers were under from not receiving
02:00their adjusted pay.
02:02How is your membership feeling now?
02:04Well, they're just as stressed, you know, Ms. Boucher. They're just as stressed, because nothing has come to fruition.
02:10Nobody has seen any money in their account. And until such time where they see the money in their account,
02:16I don't believe that their stress level will be going down.
02:19So, why not hope and pray for the teachers? I'm praying for them right now.
02:23Tutor plans on writing another letter to the Finance Minister if this present one goes without response.
02:29Alicia Boucher, TV6 News.
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