DELEGATES OF unions representing the island's public sector workers are expected to sign off on new salary agreements for public sector workers by the end of this month.
"We weren't able to establish an exact date and time when we will reach or sign the agreement, but certainly what was reiterated at the last monitoring committee meeting is that we are aiming to have an agreement on salaries and allowances by the 31st of March," said Wayne Jones, president of the Jamaica Civil Service Association.
Mr. Jones said that currently the unions have been meeting and consulting with the workers across the island on the possibility of a new Memorandum of Under-standing (MoU).
"This is a process that has been ongoing since the beginning of the year. It has taken on added pace in recent weeks, and as part of the consultation will culminate in a delegates' conference (early next week)," he said.
SEEKING MORE BENEFITS
Mr. Jones said that, in addition to the absence of wage restraints, public sector workers are also seeking to have other benefits included in a new MoU.
"... Workers have been demanding what you call 'developmental benefits', benefits to do with their educational training, their mobility, they have extended their concerns to include the question of stability in the economy," he said.
Up to last week some 12 wage claims were received by Govern-ment for the April 2006 financial year. The current MoU, which was signed in February 2004, expires month-end.
