The Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA) is a
trade union representing education workers in Jamaica.
In 1961, the
Jamaica Union of Teachers The Jamaica Union of Teachers (JUT) was a trade union representing schoolteachers in Jamaica.
The union was founded in 1894. It was the first trade union in Jamaica. Its initial organisation was based on the British National Union of Teachers. ...
, the Association of Headmasters and Headmistresses, the Association of Teachers in Technical Institutions, the Association of Teacher Training Staffs, and the Association of Assistant Masters and Mistresses, formed the Joint Executive of Teachers' Associations, to co-ordinate their activity. This was a success, and in 1964, the unions merged fully, forming the JTA.
The JTA was more militant than any of the former unions, and in 1966 it organised the country's first national teachers' strike. This was successful in securing pay increases, and led to five further strikes over the next 20 years. In the 1980s, there was a split from the union, which formed the National Union of Democratic Teachers.
By the 1990s, the union had 18,000 members, which it claimed included 90% of the country's state schoolteachers. It ran a
credit union, a housing co-operative, and a publishing house, in addition to establishing a code of ethics for teachers.
Secretaries General
:1974: Fay E. Saunders
:1984: Woodburn Miller
:1994: Eric Downie
:2002: Adolph Cameron
:2014: Patrick Smith
:2015: Byron Farquharson
External links
*{{official website, https://www.jta.org.jm/
References
Education trade unions
Trade unions established in 1964
Trade unions in Jamaica
1964 establishments in Jamaica