Arthur Hall, Senior Staff Reporter

( L - R ) Brown, Roberts

A new public sector Memorandum of Under-standing, (MOU3) could be finalised shortly.

Officials of the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions (JUTC) are to meet today to discuss a proposal placed on the table by the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service after months of negotiations.

The offer includes a 22 per cent increase for public sector employees over the two-year period, April 2008 to March 2010.

This is expected to be paid out as 16 per cent in the first year and six per cent in the second.

Inflation was 16.8 per cent in 2007 and is expected to be closer to 18 per cent for the fiscal year which ends on March 31.

MoU3 is also expected to maintain the ban on wide-scale redundancy in the public sector while giving ministries and agencies room to cut some jobs as part of any restructuring exercise.

Ministry confident

Finance ministry sources yesterday told The Gleaner that they were confident that the unions would accept the offer now on the table.

According to the sources, MoU3 could be signed and sealed in a matter of weeks.

But with groups such as the Jamaica Teachers' Association and the Nurses' Association of Jamaica requesting increases of 100 per cent and over, it is not guaranteed that the union leaders will be able to reach any agreement today.

Yesterday, union leaders refused to comment on the state of the negotiations, even as they defended the need for MoU3.

President of the University and Allied Workers' Union (UAWU), Lambert Brown, described the public sector MoU as a valuable addition to the country's industrial relations climate.

Brown dismissed calls for wide-scale cuts in public sector jobs as irresponsible and archaic.

"The MoU has added stability to the industrial process while allowing the Government to move from the outing of fires," Brown added.

He warned that a massive cut in the public sector would involve redundancy payments with a possible fallout which could hurt the country.

According to Brown, the country had gained immensely from MOU1 and MOU2 which did not stop state entities from cutting staff.

"Ultimately, some jobs will be made redundant because of technology, but these workers can be trained and moved into areas where they are needed and into self-employment," the UAWU president added.

He was supported by vice-president of the National Workers' Union, Danny Roberts, who argued that a massive job cut in the public sector would not be the answer to the country's problems.

arthur.hall@gleanerjm.com