By Robert Hart, Staff Reporter
Prime Minister P.J. Patterson (seated centre) joins Dr. Omar Davies (seated left), Minister of Finance and Planning, and Senator Dwight Nelson (seated second right), vice-president of the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions, in signing the Memorandum of Understanding forged between Government and trade unions. The signing took place at Jamaica House. Looking on are other members of Government and trade unions. - Junior Dowie/Staff Photographer
PRIME MINISTER P.J. Patterson has given his word that he and the members of the political directorate will lead the country by example through the upcoming period of wage restraint on public sector workers.
Speaking during what was described as a "historic" signing of the two-year Memorandum of Understanding between the Government and the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions (JCTU), Mr. Patterson announced yesterday that neither he nor other members of the Government would be seeking to benefit from the recommendations of the Oliver Clarke-led Parliamentary Salaries Review Committee over the life of the MoU.
BALLOONING WAGE BILL
He said too that Members of Parliament would be bound by the MoU, which is meant to rein in the country's ballooning wage bill which stood at over $45 billion for the April-December period, $4 billion above budget and combat the current economic crisis.
The alternative to the MoU would have been the culling of some 15,000 Government jobs.
But yesterday at least three unions boycotted the signing at Jamaica House, including the powerful Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA) which represents 18,000 of the island's teachers.
JTA said it needed more time to study the MoU document, and consult with members before committing its signature.
President Wentworth Gabbidon told The Gleaner the executive will meet with teachers across the parishes ahead of a central executive meeting on February 27 at which time the decision would be made.
St. Patrice Ennis, general secretary of the Union of Technical and Supervisory Personnel and its sister union, Port Security Union citing the rising costs of utilities, goods and services and the significant hike in property taxes said a wage restraint on the least paid category of the island's workforce was impractical.
Meantime, PM Patterson yesterday issued a stern warning to public sector groupings who, by law, cannot be affected by the agreements in the MoU.
"If those who are not signatories try to seek their pound of flesh, it is going to have economic and social consequences because Government is integral, and what affects one part of the body is going to affect all," he said.
Minutes earlier, Senator Dwight Nelson, vice-president of the JCTU, expressed his staunch conviction that the agreement was the best for the public sector workers whom he represented.
"The JCTU has no regret in entering the MoU," he said. "Those who have sought to derail this process are the same voices that condemned the trade unions as seeking to destroy the country."
He added: "We feel justified in entering into this agreement and are confident that this agreement will work and those who criticise us now will praise us later."
Minister of Finance and Planning Dr. Omar Davies, who led the Government side in the three-month talks, said the agreement provides a "concrete basis for the development of a broader social contract."
While the Finance Minister suggested that there was a need to bring other groups on board for a social contract to emerge, Prime Minister Patterson pointed directly to the private sector.
"It behoves the private sector to also be engaged in some MoU that will foster and promote the partnership which is necessary to embrace the whole nation," he said.
John Myers, Jr., Staff Reporter, contributed to this story.
