October marks the end of a six-month extension to talks between unions representing public sector workers and the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service (MOFPS) over new pay scales, but there seems to be no end in sight to wrangling which the Jamaica Observer understands is coming mainly from representatives for workers of the officer class.

Workers who are fortnightly paid told the Business Observer that they have been patiently waiting for an promised increase as well as retroactive payments. Originally these were expected in August 2022. However, as the end of the year nears, they continue to wait.

In May 2022, the MOFPS agreed to the six-month extension of talks between this ministry and 45 trade unions and internal staff associations representing government workers. The bargaining groups and unions represent 110,000 workers in the public sector.

A major point of discussion surrounds how allowances will be absorbed into the salary packages. One contention is that some management and bargaining groups have been slow in providing reliable information.

In May, general secretary of the Union of Clerical, Administrative and Supervisory Employees John Levy protested the limited six-month extension, noting that because of the job evaluation exercises and the details involved, six months was too short.

He noted as well that a number of reclassification exercises, including some which have already been completed in the public bodies, have still not been implemented.

Offer

Public sector and their representatives, meanwhile, continue to work on the agreement with the Government to cover the period 2022 to 2025, with talks continuing between the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions, which now represents most groups, and the Finance Ministry.

The representatives of the public sector workers exclude the police, nurses and medical doctors, and are looking at 16 pay scales and other benefits.

Sources say retroactive payments to April this year will have to be made to the workers, based on the agreement. They indicate that the lowest category of workers could earn a maximum $1.3 million before tax, while the highest paid group could earn up to $24.6 million. Negotiations continue on travelling and other non-taxable allowances.

Workers, meanwhile, have already received additional increases in grants, taxi allowances, compensation for meals and other gratuities.

A pain point for the workers is the cutting of the duty concession for motor vehicles which is still being discussed.

The exercise of pay adjustment may last well into the end of the current financial year.

Minister of Finance and the Public Service Dr Nigel Clarke had said earlier in the year that compensation reviews would to be undertaken during the 2022/23 fiscal year. The year ends in March 2023.

Speaking at a Jamaica Stock Exchange event earlier, he had said, “It should be obvious that it’s not something that we can do in one fiscal year; it would not be fiscally achievable to do that.”

He outlined that the public sector currently has more than 325 grade levels and 185 allowances, a fact he said which makes the compensation structure “complex, inequitable, non-transparent, and fiscally risky”.

He outlined also that, in addition to the compensation restructuring exercise, the Government will continue to pursue public-sector transformation and implement strategies to improve efficiency. This, he said, would include mergers, closures, and divestment of public bodies; and outsourcing of services that the public sector does not have to perform.