Dionne Rose, Staff ReporterA SENIOR official of the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions (JCTU) has warned bargaining units that have decided to pull away from the group to negotiate their own salary packages with Government, that they should not expect to get a better increase than those who have stuck with the confederation.
JCTU Vice-President Danny Roberts was specifically addressing the Jamaica Medical Doctors' Association and the Nurses Association of Jamaica (NAJ), which withdrew from the JCTU's bargaining with Government and instead opted to pursue their own negotiations.
"Those bargaining units, which for reasons best known to them have opted to negotiate on their own, are engaging in a pure and simple window-dressing exercise," Mr. Roberts said while addressing a meeting of the Kiwanis Club of North St. Andrew at the Hilton Kingston hotel, New Kingston, Thursday night.
"In fact, I must say to you, they have already benefited from the centralised bargaining process because the pool of funds available to them has been increased through wage solidarity," he added.
VALUE FOR MONEY
Mr. Roberts claimed that, because of the united front, the Government was forced to increase the wage fund to $15 billion over the next two years.
He also cautioned public sector workers to give value for money by improving quality service to the public.
"The public is not prepared to expend $15 billion for the same kind of service delivery and we recognised and have accepted that," he said.
Outlining elements to be included in the second Memorandum of Understanding, which is expected to be signed later this month, Mr. Roberts said greater opportunities would be provided to public sector workers to access concessionary funding for tertiary education and training.
He said the confederation would also be engaging in discussions with the National Housing Trust and building societies to have easier access to housing solutions.
Mr. Roberts, however, under-scored that the second MoU was hinged on the cooperation of other sectors, especially the private sector, through price restraints.
In the meantime, he said the Jamaica Teachers' Association and the Junior Doctors Association have expressed an interest in being signatories to the MoU2.
