By Kimone Witter
Classes have been disrupted for a second consecutive day at the Vocational Training Development Institute (VTDI) as employees continue their industrial action.
Radio Jamaica News was informed that representatives of the three unions - Jamaica Teachers' Association, National Workers Union and Bustamante Industrial Trade Union - are meeting to decide the conditions under which they will return to work. This will be communicated to the HEART/NSTA Trust.
Effective April 1, the National Council on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (NCTVET) and VTDI will be transferred from HEART/NSTA to the Ministry of Education.
The workers will receive their last paycheck under HEART come next week.
Uncertainty looms about what will happen after, as longstanding issues between HEART and the institutions remain unresolved.
The issues surround outstanding payment arrangements and security of tenure.
When contacted Wednesday, Director of Marketing and Communications at HEART/NSTA Trust, Julia Smiley Green, said the entities are now the responsibility of the Education Ministry.
But Maureen Dwyer, acting permanent secretary in the Ministry of Education, said the ministry is unable to speak for HEART/NSTA about the outstanding payments.
