UNIONISED workers at Churches Co-operative Credit Union Limited, which has its head office on Eureka Road in Kingston, want a bigger share of the company’s profits.

“The average dividends paid out in 2004 was two per cent, none was paid in 2005, but this year the credit union is able to pay as high as 4.5 per cent in dividends,” said Kavan Gayle, assistant general secretary of Bustamante Industrial Trade Union (BITU).

In its annual report for 2005, Churches admitted having a very successful year, “despite a very challenging economic climate, which saw reduction in market interest rates, as well as higher-than expected inflation rates”.

During 2005, the credit union’s total assets moved from $2.06 billion to $2.35 billion, an increase of 14 per cent. This was better than the previous year’s asset growth of 13 per cent.

Despite the competition for loans, the credit union recorded a 26 per cent growth in loans and ended the year with a loan portfolio of $1.6 billion. Deposit and shares grew by 13.4 per cent, ending the year at $1.95 billion.

It also recorded growth of 14 per cent in interest income, which was 9.7 per cent greater than the interest income of 4.4 per cent in 2004. Additionally, net surplus moved from $76.1 million in 2004 to $90.3 million in 2005, a growth of 19 per cent and a tremendous improvement over the six per cent growth recorded between 2003 and 2004.

Churches topped the “Best Business Results” category of the service sector in the Ministry of Commerce, Science and Technology’s National Quality Awards (NQA) last year.

But, according to Gayle, the workers were not sharing in the success of the credit union.

He told the Observer on Friday that the BITU-represented workers were disgruntled “over the management’s unwillingness to continue negotiations and make an improved offer on the salary package for the contract period, 2006-2007”.

The management, the union said, insisted at the last local level meeting to continue negotiations on a new collective agreement on May 10 that it would not budge beyond its current offer of a 12 per cent pay increase in the first year and an additional 10 per cent in year two.

The union, however, wants a 20 per cent hike in wages.

“I believe it is unreasonable to offer 12 per cent against the level of profits that the credit union is making,” Gayle claimed. “The profits must be shared with the unionised staff.”

But he said that the union was still flexible depending on a movement in the management’s current offer.