Dionne Rose and Edmond Campbell, Staff Reporters

Some 200 incensed delegates of the Police Federation yesterday evening voted to take strong action that will force the Government to make a favourable wage offer.

The Police Federation had given the Government until yesterday to present a better wage offer, but when this was not forthcoming, the union met with the delegates to decide the way forward.

After a nearly two-hour closed-door meeting at the Jamaica Conference Centre, downtown Kingston, the delegates emerged in a militant mood.

"The delegates have voted that they will take positive action," said Sergeant David White, public relations officer of the Federation. "Positive action, Jamaicans will see in due course what it is," he added.

When pressed as to whether such action meant the 8,000 rank-and-file members will be staying off the job, Sgt. White said: "Let us see nuh."

Important

Sgt. White said the so-called "positive action" could take place immediately. "We are going to push ahead to make sure that the Government understands that we are important to this country, we are important to security and we have a family to support," said an angry Sgt. White.

According to the federation PRO, the delegates were particularly upset with statements reportedly made by Junior Minister, Fitz Jackson on the weekend on the current negotiations.

Yesterday Jackson said he was taken out of context by another newspaper.

It was, however, obvious that the delegates had taken Mr. Jackson's statements seriously as they circulated a cartoon of the minister with horns and the number 666, written on his forehead with a paper in his hand stating, 'I am a dictator.'

Meanwhile, Opposition spokes-man on Security, Derrick Smith, in a statement yesterday, said the comments attributed to Mr. Jackson in another daily exposed Mr. Jackson's lack of negotiation skills.

Wage settlement

Mr. Smith suggested that the negotiations should be conducted at the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, which has the conciliatory machinery to efficiently conduct the wage settlement.

And Information Minister, Colin Campbell, said the Cabinet had noted the statements of the negotiating teams and expressed the wish that the talks would continue in a different atmosphere.

"The entire Cabinet was very clear that we wanted this matter to proceed in an atmosphere where we could continue to have a security force that was motivated," he said.

The police union is pressing the Government for a 45 per cent increase in year one and 30 per cent in year two. But the Government has proposed a 12.5 per cent increase in year one and five per cent in year two.