A two-year agreement was signed yesterday between the Incorporated Masterbuilders Association of Jamaica (IMAJ) and trade unions on the Joint Industrial Council (JIC) for the terms of service and wage increases during the 2007-2009 period.

As a part of the agreement, workers in the construction industry will receive wage increases of 12 per cent for the period February 2007 to January 2008 and a further 12 per cent for the period February 2008 to January 2009.

The agreement brokered between the National Workers Union (NWU), the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union (BITU) and the Masterbuilders, started late last year.

Masterbuilders chairman Michael Archer said that the negotiations with the trade unions were concluded in three months, the second time that it was done in such a short time.

Meanwhile, NWU president Vincent Morrison, in signing the document, lauded the agreement as “a very good one” which was concluded “in record time”.

Meanwhile, he said training and certification of workers in the construction industry should be intensified, noting that there was currently a demand for approximately 3,000 specialised welders and pipe fitters to serve in the overseas labour market, but that the island would be hard-presssed to find 100 such persons.

The problem, Morrison said, was not one of funding, but rather a lack of will on the part of government.

“I don’t think we have a problem with funding. The funds are there, but there is not the will and fixity of purpose to train the youngsters,” said Morrison.