Members of the public sector trade unions have collectively slammed the Finance Minister’s announcement of a proposed five per cent wage increase.
During the 2024/2025 national budget presentation in Parliament on Monday, Minister Colm Imbert said the Government recognised that the four per cent offered to public sector workers for 2014-19 was not large, but it was all that the Government could have afforded then.
“I have today instructed the Chief Personnel Officer to make the necessary preparations to commence negotiations with those trade unions that accepted the previous four per cent offer for the period January 2020 to December 2022.
Imbert added, “The Government, even in the face of our challenging financial circumstances, has decided to offer an increase of five per cent.”
However, President of the Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers Association (TTUTA) Martin Lum Kin said that negotiations by public decree, must be rejected.
“This Government is seeking to circumvent the established methodology of bilateral negotiatio the representatives for the employer, that is, the CPO, and the relevant recognised association.”
Lum Kin said government’s move to make an offer in the public domain with the hope that the association would accept it was “outrageous” and “callous”.
“One must be reminded that the established methodology of the external labour market, which does not utilise the percentage increase but closure of the gap in the market, has been recognised by the CPO as the best method of salary negotiations.”
Meanwhile, President of the Fire Service Association (FSA) Keone Guy, described the Finance Minister’s action as disrespectful and a violation of the collective bargaining process.
“We are dissatisfied with the government’s announcement of five per cent that is generally because not only is it grossly inadequate but the process; the Government seems to not recognise that wages within the public service should be determined after a collective bargaining process is concluded and that process will determine what will be a suitable increase to workers, so to have the Minister of Finance stand in the parliament and indicate that this will be the increase, to us, seems disrespectful.”
On Monday, Imbert also stated that the PSA and NUGFW’s refusal of the four per cent offer cannot be allowed to delay negotiations for the next bargaining period with other public sector trade unions, who represent more workers.
However, PSA president Leroy Baptiste, in GML interview, said that the Finance Minister misrepresented the facts when he stated that the PSA reported a dispute.
“It was the Government through the CPO that, after two meetings, reported a dispute. Moreover, it’s dictatorship and bullying on full display. Negotiations by decree. To hell with collective bargaining.
“The union’s role is to agree to the decree. This is objectionable and must be resisted not just for ourselves but for future generations of workers. There is a purpose to negotiations, that is, to, at a minimum, maintain the standard of living of those we represent.”