Taking the reins from outgoing president, Don Howell, she vows to create a more progressive Union more in tune with its members’ concerns. 

“The Union has to be one that is open to new ideas, it has to be one that is inclusive and it has to be one that is based on fostering engagement. We serve our members so we are going to be big on that,” she said.

She says she is up to the task, no matter how difficult it may be. The victory, she says, comes with great responsibility.

“Even as I received congratulatory messages this morning, along with each congratulatory message was an expectation. So, I got remarks like “You can make a difference”. We’ll negotiate and we’ll listen to the members,” she said.

Charles says the new Executive will continue its negotiations for the bargaining period 2023 - 2025.

“So this will just be a continuous process from the outgoing executive to the incoming executive. We will ensure that whatever is on the table, we negotiate for it as fairly as possible.”

Education Minister, Shawn Edward, says the Ministry values its partnership with the SLTU and will continue working with the executive.

“The Union is a very important partner to the Ministry of Education and it is important that they elect solid individuals and persons who will execute the mandate of the Union in a manner that reflects the importance of that entity. Whichever executive elected will sit down with the Ministry of Education to continue charting our way forward for the betterment of education in this country,” he said.

Troy Nestor was elected as 1st Vice President, Kim Gaston as the 2nd Vice President, Vernetta John as the General Secretary, Sherene Saltibus as the Deputy General Secretary, Schaefer Sylvester as the Treasurer and Marvelle Modeste-Lubin as the Public Relations Officer.