The Jamaica Civil Service Association (JCSA) has taken the unprecedented step of publicly chiding member unions of the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions (JCTU) of which it is a part, who are yet to sign off on the Government’s restructured compensation package for public sector employees.

At the heart of the matter is when the 50,000 public sector workers represented by the JCSA will begin to receive the new payments.

The offer from the Government is 17.5 per cent over three years effective April 1.

The JCSA in a statement above the signature of its President, Oniel Grant on Wednesday, said it noted the presentation in the Parliament by the Minister Finance and Public Service (MoF&PS), Dr Nigel Clarke on Tuesday, that the finance ministry was “ready to commence the payment of the newly-aligned wages..”

Grant said the JCSA has indicated to the ministry, the other members of the JCTU “and the wider Jamaica that we are prepared to sign, given the conditions previously expressed by the Association as it relates to matters of conversion, and for the groups to receive the necessary information for them to determine where they are in the restructuring exercise”.

Grant said the JCSA “views with great concern, reports that member unions of the Confederation have expressed uneasiness with signing, notwithstanding the fact that the issues that were raised at the level of the Confederation were brought to the MoF&PS for attention”.

The JCSA president disclosed that following an executive committee meeting on Tuesday, November 8, the decision was taken that the JCSA should seek to move ahead with ensuring that the workers it represents are able to start receiving the new salary in the shortest time possible.

“The JCSA is now taking steps to act on the mandate received from its members to sign the MOU once we are satisfied that the concerns raised with the MoF&PS have been addressed,” the statement said.

Grant argued that the JCSA is a sovereign union representing directly 30,000 members and by extension 50,000 public sector workers, and that having a duty of care and being a responsible union “should do nothing to deprive the workers of their fair compensation in a timely manner”.

While answering questions from Opposition members in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, the finance minister warned public sector workers that they risked missing the payments due this year under the compensation review.

President of the JCTU, Helene Davis-Whyte told the media that five of 11 unions are ready to affix their signatures to the offer from the finance ministry. Davis-Whyte acknowledged that there was divisiveness and tensions within the ranks and that those are being sorted out.

Meanwhile, Clarke warned that if an agreement was not reached with the unions during the current fiscal year, the government could not guarantee that the workers would receive their back pay this year.

“It is absolutely imperative that we conclude in sufficient time that the payments that are due for 2022 are made in the fiscal year 2022/23,” Clarke said.

The minister pointed out that eight months have already passed and January will make it 10. He said: “Ten months of what we proverbially call back pay is a large amount that is being budgeted for in this fiscal year. If it is not paid in this fiscal year, the space to accommodate it in the next fiscal year does not exist”.

Some $21 billion of the additional $60 billion that has been tacked onto the 2022/23 Budget is set aside for employee compensation.