FALMOUTH, Trelawny — Jamaica Police Federation Chairman Corporal Rohan James has blasted the Government, in particular the finance ministry, for its handling of the current wage negotiations, going as far as labelling them modern-day slave masters.

Speaking at a parish conference for the Trelawny Division of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) on Thursday, James did not hold back in his assessment of how things were going.

“We are the foot soldiers, the vanguards of the people of Jamaica, and I’m not going to retract this statement by saying our employers are modern-day enslavers. Enough is enough!” he declared as he took the Government to task over the issue of cops’ overtime payments, a matter that is now before the courts.

“The Government has seen it fit to go to trial, notwithstanding they have admitted to us that they themselves have breached arrangements in the form of the contract that we signed. And instead of taking humility and humanity and accept and submit and to accede and pay due regard for the benevolence that the members have served this country — not only with blood, sweat, and tears but with lives — they have sought to go to the court and engage in a full trial. And now we await a judgement on the third of June,” he lamented.

James also criticised the much-touted compensation review.

“The Government, our employer, has indicated that they are in for a compensation review and it is worse off than what they have shared with the public, what they have shared with us. Based on our posture, they have withdrawn the document that was served upon us yesterday [Wednesday] because we are not going to retreat,” he vowed.

“The figures shown to us are despicable, distasteful, and are a downright insult to our intellect and to our profession and the service and the risk associated with the profession,” said James.

The entire episode, he said, has caused a widening of the trust deficit between the rank-and-file members of the police force and the Ministry of Finance.

The federation chairman called on the Government to dedicate the resources needed to effectively fight crime, including paying the police a decent wage.

“We are going into a central conference on the 17th of May 2022 in this very same parish of Trelawny, and I am saying to Jamaica, all is not well, all is not well. Tom drunk, but Tom nuh fool. The time has come for the Government to put the capital into crime-fighting and to stop paying lip service and paying scant regard to the men and women, and we are going to put a stop to it once and for all,” said James.

He gave an assurance that members of the JCF will not strike but warned that the effort they put in will match the compensation they receive.

“I am saying to the people of Jamaica, our stakeholders, I am not going to withdraw the service of the men and women of the Jamaica Constabulary Force rank-and-file cohort. But one thing I can tell you, if it means that the Government can only afford to pay you for 40 hours per week with the stipulation that the officers get the mandatory break, then it means that you are going to get what you are being paid for and the service that the Government, our employer, seeks to pay for. That is the service that you are going to be getting,” said James.