Zero per cent in year one still on table for public sector workers
Published:Wednesday | July 30, 2025 | 12:16 AM
The Government’s zero per cent wage offer, in year one of a proposed new three-year wage agreement with public sector workers, was still on the table yesterday when unions representing public sector workers and officials from the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service met to hammer out an agreement.
The Government has tweaked its proposal for a four-year wage contract to three years but has maintained its 2.5 per cent offer in years two and three.
This is not sitting well with public sector workers whose unions, through the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions (JCTU), are indicating that the zero per cent offer is a non-starter.
“For it to be even worthy of a consideration we would have to be properly provoked and that has not happened with a three-year beginning with a zero. I have not developed the skills set yet as a negotiator to counter a zero offer,” St Patrice Ennis, president of the JCTU, told The Gleaner yesterday.
The JCTU boss said the Government has indicated that there will be some movement on items placed on the table by the unions.
Ennis said issues such as contract work, a four-day workweek, among others, would take more time to arrive at a position as they are more policy related.
The JCTU had proposed a 15 per cent increase in year one and 10 per cent in year two. It submitted its 2025-2027 wage and fringe benefits claim to the Ministry of Finance in November 2024.
Representatives from the unions and government officials will again meet on August 21 to continue wage talks.