Members of the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) are presently restive over their ongoing salary negotiations with the Government, OBSERVER ONLINE has been informed.

According to a senior member of the military, their grouse has to do with “the lack of transparency and the fact that no one knows what to expect when these negotiations finally end…”

“Service members are not happy and the morale among them is generally low,” said the officer in written responses to questions from our newsroom.

OBSERVER ONLINE has seen a copy of an advisory that the JDF circulated among its members which states the following: “Negotiations with the Government of Jamaica to finalise the compensation package for all service members for the period April 22 to March 25 are ongoing. An advance payment of retroactive salaries owed for the aforementioned period will be made to service members on Friday March 23. This advance will be paid on completion of the negotiation process”.

According to the officer, there is confusion among members regarding what they have been paid. He suggested that this may well have to do with how the JDF operates.

“We can’t term it as an increase because we have no idea what it will be like when the changes are made because unlike the JCF (Jamaica Constabulary Force) where they speak to their rank-and-file members and officers, we are not privy to that information so the overall process lacks transparency,” the member stated.

Continuing, the senior member said: “From my understanding, what has been paid thus far is an advance on whatever the negotiations amount to in the end. It’s a token piece and I suppose (it) will be deducted when the negotiations are completed. When this is, we have no idea”.

The big concern for members is that depending on the class in which you fall for purposes of the salary negotiations, the majority of their allowances could be lost.

Meanwhile, the member sought to assure that the JDF was not cultured like the JCF and other governmental bodies “so the idea of civil action is not on the table…”

He explained further that the negotiations fall under the ambit of the Chief of Defence Staff, delegated to a Chief Staff Officer who is in charge of finance.

“The negotiations for all members of the JDF are dealt with through this office,” he said.

Finance Minister Dr Nigel Clarke had repeatedly warned public sector workers that those who did not accept the government’s salary offer under the public sector compensation review exercise by the March 31 deadline, risked not having the amounts paid in the new fiscal year which started April 1.

When he closed the Budget Debate on March 21, he said 95 per cent of the estimated 113,000 public employees had accepted the various offers from the government.

Prior to that there were some holdouts including teachers and the police. They subsequently signed ahead of the deadline.