Dear Mr. President
I like church. I like the different cultures of worship and the communities. The melee, the reverence, the rebirth, the grace and glory. I like it all. However, the story of Jonah intrigues me. It modifies the character and fills the heart.
So, when I witness the President of the St.Kitts Nevis Teachers Union (henceforth SKNTU) perform the Jonah act, I was shocked, and amused, by my recognition. Jonah and the WHALE, is a metaphor for accepting experience without seeking to change it. Jonah inside the belly of the whale comfortably protected from the problems of the outside world. While attending the opening ceremony for teachers conducted by ministry officials, I was introduced to the New president of the SKNTU. Yes I never knew it was him. I was stunned, while most of my colleague teachers laughed and asked “ … is the union still a thing?” What shocked me was not that there is a new president, but that his speech was silent. It was silent about the issues that are affecting us.
Mr. President of the SKNTU, I am confused by your silence as it seemed in conflict to your role as union president. So, I went look up what is a union to verify that my confusion was not a product of my error or ignorance. According to my source, a labour union or trade union is an organized group of workers who unite to make decisions about conditions affecting their work. Labor unions strive to bring economic justice to the workplace and social justice to our nation. That means Mr. President your constituents are the teachers; your mission is the teachers’ welfare.
How can you stand on a platform away from us and speak for us without speaking with us teachers first? Did you solicit our ideas? Do you know how we are feeling? Did you go on a listening campaign as the minister said he did? How can you mediate a conflict while standing at the side of the authority imposing distressing working conditions on teachers? How can you not advocate for your constituents while on the platform?
Is it by committing the Jonah act? Failing to protest our new working conditions as you sit in the belly of the WHALE comforted by access and relationships, protected from teaching like the rest of us.
Mr. President, your conduct in office should inspire trust among teachers and promote the welfare of teachers. So, when you stand publicly with the ministry without talking to us, without listening, without advocacy for teachers, it symbolizes a stand against us comfortably in the belly of the WHALE. So, you ought not to mount any more platforms with the leaders of our ministry who are responsible for enforcing working conditions and extended hours which a majority of us don’t agree with. In most instances we are systematically excluded from participating meaningfully in shaping our employment circumstance. Do teachers want to work 8:00am-4:00pm? Have you asked? Have you listened? Your presence is our voice. When you show up to represent the office of president of the SKNTU do you speak on our behalf?
Mr. President, many teachers are silent because as a body we are afraid to speak up and speak out. Daily we trade silence for survival in this profession. Nevertheless, to your credit you did mention there are complaints forms available if a teacher feels unsatisfied with any circumstance around teaching during Covid. However, we are aware of professional persecution. When a teacher speaks out there is a passive aggressive or overtly aggressive response that results in some form of victimization and negative characterization.
The story of Jonah in the bible teaches us that when we are given a mission, on behalf of people for their well being, you must do it. Failure to perform your duty is behavior that leaves us teachers in the roaring seas. A failure in your duty to protest on our behalf is a failure to protect us. Don’t allow yourself to be swallowed inside the belly of the WHALE, being passive and accepting of rules that affect us.
Finally, when is the next union meeting? I would like to join. The SKNTU ought not to be swallowed by the WHALE.
Yours Sincerely,
MCH
