Customs Officers Receive Retroactive Pay and Stateside Teachers Get Pay Raises
Apr 15, 2022 5:09 am
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Customs Officers Receive Retroactive Pay
The Department of Administration expects to begin paying $3 million in retroactive hazard duty pay to Customs officers by April 22, according to Ike Peredo, director of the Guam Customs and Quarantine Agency.
Read more at The Guam Daily Post.
Guam Teachers Get Left Behind as Teachers in Several States See Biggest Raise in Decades
Teachers on Guam last saw a pay compression in 2014 when some seasoned teachers received a paltry nickel raise for the whole year. Despite discussions underway to get teachers a pay raise, several states are awarding their teachers a pay raise of 20%. States that rank fairly low on the pay ladder are leaps and bounds ahead of Guam with their recent pay raise. We did not get into teaching to become rich, but we should not be struggling either. Read more at the New York Times.
Bill 254-36 Defines the Educational and Professional Requirements for Certified School Counselors
Senator Nelson introduced Bill 254-36 to define the educational and professional requirements for certified school counselors. Many school counselors attended the public hearing along with other members of the school community on Tuesday, April 05, 2022. The meeting lasted nearly five hours, and GFT Vice-President Sanjay Sharma created a brief 6-minute video that highlights some main points. Many professionals provided insight into the struggles of not defining the duties of school counselors.
As a point of further action, school counselors had an opportunity to meet with the Superintendent and GFT on April 08, 2022, to discuss further ongoing issues.
This process shows that active members move issues. GFT assisted in the grievance process, working through steps one through three. The unresolved issues went to the Guam Legislature for action, all pushed through with active members.
In reflection, President Tim Fedenko stated, “I applaud the counselors and the exemplary example of democracy in action. If workers had rights to enforce collective bargaining agreements, then maybe this would have been resolved sooner. I support the school counselors in asking for a clear description of duties. That is what Bill 254-36 does.”
Part 1 Public Testimonies (full video)
Part 2 Question and Answers with the Senators (full video)