BELINDA IS USING THE WEAK MEMBERS

Is the phrase “Teachers’ Union” becoming the ultimate oxymoron? How can a body built on discipline, integrity, and intellectual leadership so often behave in ways that clash violently with the very principles teachers instil in children? The contradiction is impossible to ignore: those who teach accountability seem unwilling to practice it.

Bahamians have lost all respect for the few teachers who are destroying our children and the education system that the country is relying on to prepare for the future. But are teachers so simple as to be used by a woman exploiting the union to keep the fire burning and give the appearance of support? When the teachers “duck school” our children are left to wander the streets to get into mischief.

Ask the question: why has the Bahamas Union of Teachers continued to be divided, and how come several new unions were born? It is because the majority of sensible teachers “break away” to form “respectable unions”

Teachers preach critical thinking—yet many refuse to turn that same critical lens inward. They urge students to question authority—yet remain silent when authority lies within their own union. They demand responsibility from children—yet look away when responsibility is demanded of their own leadership. It raises the biting question: Are some teachers failing to remove the mote from their own eyes even as they loudly condemn others?

Hypocrisy Made Visible

Teachers insist students follow rules. They lecture on civility, respect, and proper conduct. But when certain protests erupt, some of these same individuals leap barricades, clash with authorities, and toss discipline aside the moment it conflicts with emotion.

How can you teach children self-control at 9:00 a.m. and abandon it yourself by noon?

How can you demand respect for systems, laws, and order while simultaneously breaking the very rules you enforce in the classroom?

This is not just inconsistency—it is hypocrisy exposed in full daylight.

Are Teachers Being Used as Pawns?

A darker question emerges: Are union members being manipulated to serve the ambitions of their leader rather than the needs of the profession?

Whenever emotions are stoked, whenever crowds are mobilised, one must ask: who benefits? Is the ordinary teacher struggling with classroom burdens? Or the leader whose reputation, influence, and employment depend on constant public confrontation?

Irresponsible teachers should not remove themselves from the classroom, abandoning their responsibility to care for our impressionable children, while protesting about money that was never negotiated by the union.

A leader fuelled by ego needs perpetual conflict. A leader who thrives on visibility needs constant spectacle. And a leader desperate to maintain power must keep members riled up, angry, and distracted.

Members who are emotionally charged are less likely to ask uncomfortable questions—like where their money went.

Thus, teachers risk becoming pawns in a personal popularity campaign, used for rallies and headlines while critical issues—real issues—go conveniently unexamined.

Selective Outrage: Loud Outside, Silent Inside

Teachers roar at government officials but whisper nothing at their own executives. They demand public accountability from others but show astonishing tolerance for internal secrecy. They scream about delayed payments but say little about decades of unanalyzed union dues.

Why is there fire in the streets when the government falters, but no fire at the door of their own union offices?

Why is it acceptable to demand transparency from everyone except the people handling millions of their own dollars?

Forty Years of Dues—Where Are the Results?

For more than four decades, dues have been collected. Yet, there is no public record of detailed financial statements or audits, raising questions about transparency and accountability that teachers and the public deserve to see. Teachers would demand accountability if a school principal handled money this way. They teach children to demand evidence, proof, documentation, and clarity.

So why do they not demand it from their union? No wonder there is a D AVERAGE. Teachers do not care.

The Four-Year Renovation: A Monument to Mismanagement

A building under renovation for nearly four years—still incomplete—stands as a towering symbol of inefficiency. Teachers would never accept such performance from a school project. They would demand immediate explanation, invoices, timelines, and audits.

Yet many accept silence from the union with the same passivity they warn children against. Are teachers COMPLICIT in the shenanigan?

The Million-Dollar Question

Teachers are educated, analytical, and trained to evaluate evidence. So why aren’t they using that intelligence to investigate their own organization?

It may be easier to attack the government than to confront internal failure. Group loyalty is more comfortable than the truth. Outrage is simpler than introspection.

But teachers of all people know this: true integrity begins with looking at oneself. Ask yourselves: if the 3500 members have been paying their $25 monthly dues, why can’t the retired teachers get the $1000 they’ve been promised for decades? Are there reasons to believe that something is not adding up? Can Union leader Belinda Wilson clear up this mess?

Time to Remove the Mote

Teachers tell students to clean their own house before criticizing others. To act with discipline. To question authority. To stand for what is right.

Yet many refuse to hold their union to these same standards.

Unless teachers demand transparency, audits, accountability, and leadership that serves them rather than using them, the oxymoron will only grow sharper.

The hypocrisy will only grow louder, and the profession will continue to be led—not by wisdom—but by manipulation and blindness.

All teachers should go home and have a good look in the mirror, see if someone you can be proud is standing in it.

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