By Lynford Simpson, News EditorTHE OPPOSITION Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) has proven once again that it is an organisation divided against itself with a very high-ranking member questioning aspects of the historic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed recently between Government and trade unions.
Questioning the Government's commitment to the MoU that is aimed at saving jobs can only make workers suspicious.
One is now left to wonder if the only meaningful role of the parliamentary opposition is to 'oppose, oppose' as was promised by JLP Leader Edward Seaga sometime last year. Isn't the MoU in the best interest of the country? My only problem with the MoU is that it has come so late. Such an agreement should have been signed 10 years ago.
By now most Jamaicans should be aware that the MoU is seeking to save thousands of public sector jobs in the face of the financial crisis facing the Government. It will remain in place for two years during which there will be a restraint on wages. The Government has been unable to contain the ballooning wage bill for public servants, 55,000 of them, hence the MoU will provide some opportunity for the Government to re-order its obligations. Some $5 billion is expected to be saved over the two-year period.
Having led the negotiations on behalf of the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions (JCTU), Dwight Nelson, vice-president of the JCTU, and JLP Senator, must now feel a bit betrayed by what members of his own party and others have had to say about the MoU in general and Mr. Nelson in particular. Reports are that he has been accused of "selling out the workers". To Mr. Nelson, I say take heart, you've done well.
The document was signed after nearly three months of discussions with the Ministry of Finance and other stakeholders. I'm sure that during the deliberations, the leadership of the JLP was constantly updated on the status of the negotiations. Lest we forget, Mr. Nelson is also a deputy leader of the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union (BITU) which is aligned to the JLP. Therefore, there's no way he could have unilaterally negotiated a position with Government without the backing of his party. Well, maybe he could.
Why is it that only now that the agreement has been signed its supposed shortcomings are being highlighted? Was Bruce Golding, JLP Chairman who is also a Senator, not brought up to speed on the contents of the MoU. Is he now only aware, according to him, that the document is unbalanced in favour of the Government?
"What is not clear here, no matter how many times you read the MoU, is what is the contribution of the Government," Golding said in the Senate last Friday. I need to know when Mr. Golding knew this. Or, did the JLP take a hands-
off approach and allow Mr. Nelson to negotiate on his own? I doubt that.
The truth is that Mr. Nelson might have only signed the document not so much because he's concerned about saving 15,000 jobs but because of the effect of the loss of those jobs on the viability of the unions themselves.
Nonetheless, the concerns that are only now being raised, by a senior member of the JLP after the horse has bolted, should have been raised before. Indeed the Government should have been made to state more clearly the specific initiatives it will follow in order to achieve the economic objectives of the MoU. But the JLP should have insisted on that at the outset.
Mr. Nelson, despite his motives, should be lauded for putting party politics aside in the best interest of the country.
Too often the Opposition appears divided on important matters during parliamentary debates. It is not uncommon to hear one member supporting a Bill, only for another to stand up immediately afterwards and tear the same Bill apart. The JLP has suggested in the past that it is the more democratic of the two main political parties and that may be true. However, the kind of divisiveness that takes place inside Gordon House, and elsewhere, suggests members of the Opposition often do not communicate on important matters, prior to them being debated.
It is not that members of the governing People's National Party (PNP) do not disagree. Ronnie Thwaites, former PNP Member of Parliament for Central Kingston, was a most outspoken backbencher who was passionate about the issues he held dear, especially as they relate to his constituents. While he was never afraid to speak his mind, the PNP seldom, if ever appeared to be as divided on important issues as the JLP is.
Email comments to lynford.simpson@gleanerjm.com
