Prison Officers have accepted government’s four percent salary increase offer.
The Trinidad and Tobago Prison Service First Division Officers’ Association signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) on Friday, accepting Chief Personnel Officer Dr Daryl Dindial’s four per cent offer for the periods 2014-2016 and 2017-2019.
The Prison Service now joins the T&T Police Service Social & Welfare Association and the Amalgamated Workers’ Union in accepting the CPO’s four per cent offer.
In a release issued yesterday evening, CPO Dindial thanked the First Division for its decision to accept the Government’s final offer.
He added that while it would have been ideal for both associations to sign off, since it is one institution with one compensation and classification plan, there was no reason to further delay the acceptance of the First Division’s representative union.
The release stated that Dindial remains hopeful that the Second Division Association will now reconsider its position and accept the offer.
“During negotiations, the First Division Association advanced a number of issues to assist the Trinidad and Tobago Prison Service in delivering its mandate. Apart from the four per cent salary increase, there were adjustments to allowances such as Plain Clothes, Meals, Laundry, Special Responsibility, Travelling, Cost of Living Allowance (COLA), as well as a lump sum payment of $4,000 to officers who retired compulsorily, voluntarily, with permission on the grounds of illness for the period 2014-2015,” the release stated.
Dindial acknowledged the critical role of the Prison Service in supporting the nation’s overall security responsibility.
He added that issues surrounding the rehabilitation and social reintegration of prisoners “are becoming more complex but it remains critical to improve crime prevention rates and achieve the goal of restorative justice.”
The CPO also thanked the dedicated men and women of the Prison Service for their “continued commitment to the execution of their duties.”
In August last year, the T&T Fire Services Association rejected the Government’s four per cent salary increase offer. The Joint Trade Union Movement (JTUM) and the Public Services Association are the two trade unions which have also rejected the CPO’s four per cent offer.
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