Wilson wins sixth consecutive term Eye Witness News – EyeWitness News

NASSAU, BAHAMAS Belinda Wilson secured her sixth consecutive win at the polls yesterday to return as the president of the Bahamas Union of Teachers.

Wilson said her executive team A Team won 13 out of 15 seats

During an interview with Eyewitness News ahead of the vote, Wilson shared that she has had her ups and downs in the executive role for almost two decades.

She is the longest-serving president and executive in the unions history.

Wilson was elected as a BUT trustee in 1996, and that marked the beginning of her service in one of the countrys largest unions. However, it wasnt until eight years that she would secure her first three-year term as president.

She credits her availability, communication, and following through with commitments as the keys that led to her being a long-serving unionist.

I try to meet as many of the members that I can so that we can communicate, so they can know, hey, Im your president, but Im here to serve you. And Ive given service to the best of my ability, said Wilson.

Im very assertive, but when it comes to serving my members, theres a level of honor and humility that I bring to that service.

And so I pride myself on, I should say that I probably know 99% of the members by name and school. And if I dont know your name, face, school, I can basically tell you the subject you teach.

The long-serving union president said she has had her share of battles with various entities, noting her resilience has left her with enemies.

However, she said it was also the reason why she feels her members have held on with her despite the battles, throughout the years.

Every time Ive been knocked down, I got up, she said.

I got up quickly and I landed on my feet. But its because Im focused.

I know who I am, and I know what the truth is. So, a lot of times I would have detractors who would say things against me. I dont even respond. I wait for the right opportunity to respond when it counts the most, Wilson said.

The expectation, that Wilson will once again take the lead by securing hundreds of ballots over opponents, similarly to previous years is, unclear with the establishment of the fairly new, Bahamas Educators Councilors and Allied Workers Union (BECAWU), that came onboard in October 2020 which has cut down the number of potential voters by as many as 700.

BECAWU President, Sandra Major says she believes that this factor will have an impact on the outcome of the elections.

With the numbers that we would have had they would not have that support, and of course, it would definitely impact what the outcome would be.

Im sure about that because youve got a large number of voters from Grand Bahama and some of the other islands as well; with Grand Bahama having the largest number outside of New Providence. Im sure it would have changed something.

And although there are now two separate Teachers Unions, the plight of teachers in the public service remains the same. Major says that whoever the newly elected BUT president is, their focus should be on listening to the needs of the members, to best serve them.

We have to find a better way in the education system to meet the needs of teachers.

Were doing our job, the ministry has an obligation to do theirs; we have an obligation to do ours and then once that is done then we know we can work together but we want to work together in a mutual respect.

If you have disagreements, meet; iron them out, do what you have to do to get the work done for your teachers.

Wilson has announced that this will be her last campaign, and highlighted projects she plans to carry out during her final three-year term. These include the completion of the multimillion-dollar complex, which is currently under construction; the facilitation of additional teacher training; and an affordable subdivision for members.

One thing that Ive not been able to get done is a Bahamas Union of Teachers housing subdivision, which weve put the corporate vehicle in place for that, Wilson said.

We have the list of our teachers who want houses. The government has identified some property, so we hope that we can get that property so we can get about 40 homes built for our members.

I believe, if we can get those houses built, even if not all of them, just some of them, I believe that will make my heart really glad and Ill be pleased, she added.

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Wilson wins sixth consecutive term Eye Witness News - EyeWitness News