NELSON
SENATOR DWIGHT Nelson, vice-president of the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union (BITU), says disgruntled members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) should not go on strike in protest for improved wages from Government.
Mr. Nelson, who has met with members of the Police Federation to discuss their wage proposals, says there are more diplomatic methods to get their message across.
"There's sufficient machinery out there to come to a conclusion," Mr. Nelson told The Gleaner yesterday. "A strike is an absolute last resort."
According to the Opposition senator, the lawmen should seek dialogue with conciliation and mediation officers at the Ministry of Labour before staying off the job.
A strike would be the second such action (the first was in May) against Government's refusal to give them a 45 per cent increase (over two years) in salary.
Several meetings between the federation executive and officials from the Ministry of Finance have fallen through. Government says it cannot meet the federation's 24-point wage and fringe benefits claim as it would compromise the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) agreement it signed with trade unions, on behalf of public sector workers, in early 2004.
Both parties agreed to a two-year freeze on salary hikes in a move that was widely welcomed by employers. Members of the police force are not represented by trade unions and the Police Federation did not sign on to the MoU.
Senator Nelson told The Gleaner he had met on a few occasions with the federation's executive and gone over their proposals. He said he had advised them on what steps to take.
"I've gone through their claims and identified some of the items I thought were negotiable without doing mischief to the MoU," he explained. The Opposition senator was unable to recall the most vital points but believed 30 to 40 per cent of the claims were negotiable.
