Ross Sheil, Staff Reporter
Dwight Nelson (left), president of the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions, in discussion with Lambert Brown (centre), vice-president of the University and Allied Workers' Union, and Vincent Morrison, island supervisor of the National Workers' Union, during a meeting with the Minister of Finance at his Heroes Circle office in Kingston. The meeting was called to review the impact of the proposed increase in bus fares on a wage restraint pact between Government and unions representing public sector employees. - Junior Dowie/Staff Photographer
GOVERNMENT AND trade union officials are to meet on the weekend to discuss the possibility of exempting public sector employees from the proposed steep rise in bus fares.
The unions, however, agreed to stick to their public sector wage restriction agreement with Government, despite their concerns over rising prices of goods and services.
The decisions were made yesterday during a meeting of the monitoring committee of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) the wage restriction pact between Government and trade unions which expires next March. The committee, which comprises members of the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions and the Ministry of Finance, discussed the Jamaica Urban Transport Corporation (JUTC) proposed doubling of fares.
FURTHER INCREASES
"For the time being, the MoU is intact," said Dwight Nelson, president of the Jamaica Confederate of Trade Unions and vice-president of the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union .
"We are keeping our fingers crossed that further increases will not be put into effect between now and March and so we might be able to resign ourselves to it until then," said Mr. Nelson.
And this in a week when news broke that the Jamaica Public Service Company bills would increase by less than four per cent, due to rising energy costs, in September.
INFLATION
In addition, the Bank of Jamaica announced this week that inflation could exceed its earlier projection of 13 to 15 per cent for the financial year this against the Government's prediction of just nine per cent.
It would have been a breach of the MoU for public sector
workers to be subject to an increase in bus fares by Government, Mr. Nelson noted.
Minister of Finance Omar Davies and Minister of Transport Robert Pickersgill were told by unions in Friday's meeting that it was the Government's responsibility to find the funding, and not the public sector workers, said Mr. Nelson. "Both gave a commitment to this," he affirmed.
Wayne Jones, president of the Jamaica Civil Association, had indicated his union would seek a double-digit wage increase when the MoU ended. Asked after the meeting whether he would still seek this he replied: "We don't know yet because we won't be putting in a claim for until closer to the end of the year and we won't the economic circumstances until then."
"We have to see to what the commitment to insulate public workers translates to," he added.
Vice-president of the University and Allied Workers' Union, Lambert Brown said the government needed to compensate workers since it, "? has been in breach of the MoU in the respect that they have not been able to control inflation and because of that there needs to be some compensation for the workers."
Asked what form this could take he replied: "They need to look at the wage possibilities and tax possibilities."
The monitoring committee will meet again by August 30, said Mr. Nelson.
