RANK and file police have kept close to their chest what action, if any, they plan to start today, in response to the Government’s refusal to increase the pay offer of five per cent over 24 months already rejected by public sector workers.

Anticipation of industrial action by members of the rank and file of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) has been building since Friday, following a statement by Jamaica Police Federation (JPC) chairman, Sergeant Raymond Wilson, that the Government had until yesterday to improve on the offer.

The Federation said Friday that it was giving the Government “four days” to make an increased offer. It did not say how it would respond if the Government failed to respond. However, following last week’s annual conference of the JPC in Montego Bay, the federation has instructed its members to limit their hours to the basic 50 hours per week.

The federation represents approximately 10,000 police men and women, including some 2,000 police who were formerly members of the Island Special Constabulary Force (ISCF) now merged with the JCF.

Wilson confirmed in interviews with the media yesterday that he had met with Commissioner of Police, Carl Williams, to discuss the threat of industrial action, but would not disclose the outcome of that meeting.

Wilson also confirmed that a number of his members seemed to have been informed of their promotion in rank yesterday.

He also said that he spoke with minister without portfolio Horace Dalley by telephone on the continuation of the wage and fringe benefits negotiations.

However, Wilson acknowledged that there has been no improvement in the five per cent pay offer from the Government. He also insisted that the urge by the police for action to support their call for an increased pay offer was a mandate from the federation which has to be observed.

Wilson says that one of the federation’s main demands is for at least a 20 per cent increase paid to entry-level police.

He said that until the government indicates a willingness to improve its offer, the federation has no alternative but to observe its mandate for action.

In the meantime, the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA), which represents public schools teachers, is expected to meet with Dalley tomorrow, and the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions (JCTU), which represents some 40,000 skilled and unskilled public sector workers, is hoping for a meeting on Thursday.

Teachers from some downtown Kingston schools demonstrated for a few hours on Duke Street yesterday, dressed in black, in support of the JTA’s stand.

The JCTU team was expecting that last Thursday’s end of the month meeting of the MOU monitoring committee, which has been in place since the last pay agreement with the government in 2013, would have discussed the five per cent increase.

However, its team was unable to discuss the pay issue. But, representatives of the trade unions confirmed that they were able to discuss a number of fringe benefits issues with Dalley.

Eleven major trade unions bargain under the umbrella of the JCTU and, like the other unions, have rejected the Ministry of Finance’s initial offer of three per cent in the first year and an additional two per cent in the second year of a new two-year deal.

The offer seeks to break the ice formed by a five-year freeze of public sector workers’ salaries, propelled by agreements between successive governments and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). However, the unions says that the offer is too low.