DAVIES...to meet again with union leaders next Thursday

TRADE unions representing public sector workers said yesterday that they were willing to accept a freeze in wages as a trade-off, if the Government was willing to forego job cuts as part of its cost-saving measures to cut public spending in its current fiscal crisis.

Sources close to talks the finance minister, Omar Davies, had with union leaders, said that the current fiscal situation, outlined at a meeting in Kingston yesterday, seemed so bad that there was every likelihood that the trade unions would have to bend as far backwards as possible to save jobs.

A press statement issued last night by the finance ministry, following yesterday's talks, fell far short of indicating any direction in which the talks were headed.

But, union sources said that they were virtually jolted by the figures produced by the ministry on the Government's fiscal dilemma and were willing to talk.

The statement said the meeting, chaired by Minister Davies, agreed to work towards a memorandum of understanding for the public sector which will state, among other things, what both sides were willing to give up to achieve a resolution.

The finance minister, earlier this week, called in permanent secretaries and heads of departments and agencies and advised them to work out pay schedules for creditors and to reiterate the need for prudence in managing the state's resources, in light of admissions that several ministries were in arrears to creditors.

The Government has on several occasions hinted at staff cuts and rationalisation in the public sector as possible solutions to the administration's fiscal problems, and yesterday's meeting with union leaders was part of efforts to find a solution to tighten spending in the face of the cash crunch.

It was also the first gathering of the so-called "dialogue committee" formed by Davies and the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Union (JCTU) to seek compromises, after the Government suggested job separations and rationalisation to cut costs, earlier this year.

The committee is chaired by Davies and also includes his junior minister, Fitz Jackson; Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) head, Dr. Wesley Hughes and four technocrats from the finance ministry.

The JCTU is represented by Senator Dwight Nelson, vice-president of the JCTU; Lambert Brown of the University and Allied Workers union, Wayne Jones of the Jamaica Civil Service Association (JCSA); Helen Davis-Whyte of the Jamaica Association of Local Government Officers; and Vincent Morrison, island supervisor of the National Workers Union.

The Ministry's release said that the formal agreement (MOU) would contain "explicit commitments to be made by both sides".

Said the statement: "The objective is that such an agreement would provide a concrete basis on which a broader social contract, involving other interest groups, could be developed."

Both sides said that they wanted to see the agreement arrived at "within the shortest possible time".

The Nurses Association of Jamaica, which is seeking to join civil servants and teachers next year enjoying the 80 per cent of private market rates pay ratio introduced into the public sector last year, is to be invited to the next meeting of the committee, scheduled for next Thursday. The Jamaica Teachers Association is also to be invited.

Keith Comrie, spokesman for 10 unions which fall under the umbrella of the JCTU, and which jointly represents 20,000 public sector workers, also attended yesterday's meeting. However, he said that he was not willing to discuss a wage freeze until the Government looks at other areas to reduce spending.

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