Teachers and nurses will not get salary increases above those agreed to in the Public Sector Memorandum of Understanding (MOU3), according to Senator Dwight Nelson, minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Finance and Planning.

"The nurses and the teachers have not signed the MOU since 2004. They didn't sign the last MOU and the Government chose to grant them increases over and above the rest of the public service, that will not happen this time," Senator Nelson said yesterday.

Both the Nurses Association of Jamaica (NAJ) and the Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA) have opted out of the MOU since 2004 and negotiated separate agreements with the Ministry of Finance. The Police Federation has never signed, as it has never been a member of the umbrella Jamaica Confederation of Trade unions (JCTU). However, Senator Nelson had some concerns about the National Workers Union (NWU) not signing.

"The agreement is between the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions and the Government," he said. "The confederation has signed the document. We would have wanted the constituent unions also, as has been done in the past, to sign the document. That the NWU chose not to sign it, I would like to think that this is reflection of a genuine concern by the union and not a political position."

He said that he believed that with further dialogue, the issue with the NWU will be resolved. The BITU delayed signing the last MOU (MOU2) because of a dispute over whether certain agencies, which were making huge profits, should not pay more. However, they eventually agreed.

Speaking at Friday's signing of the document at Jamaica House, president of the JCTU, Wayne Jones, said that the confederation felt that while cost of living increases made the workers' demands "understandably" higher than usual, the agreed increase was the best the Government could offer in the circumstances.

"With the now established practice of openness, trust and honesty that characterised the MOU process, we are satisfied that what has been agreed was the best that the situation allowed," he said.

Ironically, teachers and nurses seem set to benefit the most from fringe benefits in the agreement, including those for training, re-training, education and benefits.

Some $3 billion budgeted for improvements in the Ministry of Health and the Environment include provisions for restructuring the health authorities, increasing the complement of health professionals and expanded training programmes for nurses.

In education, the MOU provides for: a programme to train secondary school principals in school administration; a needs assessment for special education and remedial teachers; and a review of the responsibilities of schools' administrative staff to ensure that their responsibilities are fully recognised.

The agreement also demands that no public officer should remain in an acting position for more than six months, calls for a programme of cross training between ministries, and that no disabled person should be subjected to lay-offs, redundancies or reorganisations.

The new wage rates are scheduled to come into effect in June. Clause eight of the document points out that "no group should be treated more favourably than the groups that are represented under this Memorandum of Understanding".

However, this is subject to certain other provisions in the clause, including that adjustments which are made to correct anomalies within the service will not be seen as wage increases within the context of the agreed increases.

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