Dionne Rose, Staff Reporter
PARLIAMENTARIANS WILL be getting a salary increase as soon as Government signs off on new wage agreements with trade unions representing public sector workers.
State Minister in the Ministry of Finance and Planning, Fitz Jackson, told The Gleaner yesterday that the 60 Members of Parliament were due an increase, but noted that the level of increase had not yet been decided.
Parliamentarians last got an increase of 103 per cent in October 2002. The increase was linked to a general increase for civil servants, aimed at bringing their wages to 80 per cent of those paid in the private sector for comparable work.
SCHEDULE FOR SALARIES
The trade unions had recommended a schedule for public sector salaries to be brought in line with market rates over a three-year period, including a 20 per cent increase in April 2003; another 20 per cent increase in April 2004; and a final 20 per cent increase in April 2005.
However, the increases in 2003 did not take effect and the parliamentarians' wages were frozen after public outcry against the 103 per cent increase in 2002.
A Parliamentary Salaries Review Committee was subsequently appointed by then Prime Minister, P.J. Patterson, to conduct a review of the salaries paid to parliamentarians and make recommendations. The committee's report, containing 40 recommendations, was tabled in the House of Representatives in November 2003. Among the recommendations was that there should be no increase in the current base pay for Members of Parliament. At the same time, the five-member committee said it did not feel that parliamentarians were overpaid.
The recommendations of the salaries review committee were subsequently examined by a special committee of parliamentarians, chaired by Minister of Finance and Planning, Dr. Omar Davies. That committee tabled its report in the House last December. The committee agreed to 28 of the recommendations, including those for adjustments to the pay and conditions of service put forward in the Parliamentary Salaries Review Committee Report.
Yesterday Derrick Smith, Leader of Opposition Business in the House, said there was consensus on the upcoming increase while noting that parliamentarians would not receive retroactive pay.
