St Lucia’s unions call for PM’s intervention
CASTRIES, St Lucia — Public sector unions in St Lucia this week called for the intervention of Prime Minister Kenny Anthony after another stalled round of talks with the Government’s negotiating team.
Negotiations for the 2010-2013 triennium resumed this week with the hope of breaking a stalemate following the refusal of the Government negotiators to move from their position of zero per cent increase, and a one-off payment of EC$1,000.
President of the Trade Union Federation (TUF) Julian Monrose said it was unfortunate that after three weeks of intense negotiations the unions and government negotiators have not made any significant headway.
Monrose said he was disappointed with the government negotiators whose best offer to date was .003 per cent, with their preferred option being zero per cent with a one-time offer of EC$4,000.
“Although we feel offended and disillusioned at the perceived intransigence, we remain mindful of the plight of our members, and we decided to adjust our initial request down from the 16 per cent increase. However in the opinion of the union, the government negotiators have hardly offered anything better,” he said.
Monrose said the GNT explained that it had no mandate to make changes to the wage proposal and had to report back to the Cabinet of Ministers for further instructions on the union’s new offer, a situation the Unions described as time consuming.
As a result the Federation decided that it was time for the intervention of the prime minister, after Public Service Minister Jimmy Fletcher was summoned to intervene Wednesday and failed to make a difference.
Monrose said Prime Minister Anthony and not his public service minister has the authority to make a difference in the negotiations.
“We inquired and were told that the prime minister would be back on Friday, and we informed Dr Fletcher that in our determination to resolve the matter we stand ready to meet the prime minister if he is willing on Saturday.
“We are prepared to forgo all our private commitments to meet with him to resolve this impasse,” the Union official said.
