THE National Workers Union and the Jamaica Gasolene Retailers Association have reached an agreement which should result in over 2,000 gas station attendants, islandwide, being made pensionable this year.

Both parties have agreed that a pension scheme with a suitable provider should be implemented before the end of the contract period, which runs from October 1, 2012 to September 30, 2014. But the union says that the scheme will be implemented within months.

“We have been talking with Sagicor, and the scheme will certainly be introduced within a couple of months,” said NWU president Vincent Morrison.

Morrison commended gas station owners on the level of negotiations which resulted in what he described as “a fairly good contract”.

Under the contract, regular workers will be provided with five sets of uniform annually in a style and design determined by the employer, and the workers are required to wear these uniforms at all times while on duty. They will also be responsible for the laundering and care of the uniforms.

The employers are to provide safety gears and equipment for the attendants, which shall be worn on the job, and the workers are also to be provided with group life insurance coverage while a programme will offer scholarships to the children of the attendants.