Clarke says prosecutors' group agitating for salary talks not a recognised union

Finance Minister Dr Nigel Clarke has responded to complaints of his alleged unresponsiveness to issues raised by the 'Concerned Prosecutors at the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions', saying it is not a recognised group with which his ministry negotiates compensation matters.

Court proceedings across Jamaica were hampered on Thursday as prosecutors restive over salary issues under the government's new compensation regime stayed away.

In a statement this morning, 'Concerned Prosecutors at the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions' bemoaned that the relevant authorities have not responded to letters outlining their grouses.

In a statement on Thursday afternoon, Clarke acknowledged receiving a letter from the group on May 26.

He said while the letter expressed dissatisfaction with compensation levels for prosecutors, it entailed no specific policy suggestion or request and the letter did not express a desire for a meeting.

"Moreover, the letter was not signed by an individual who could be contacted. It was signed, 'Concerned Prosecutors ODPP'. In addition, the letter neither contained an email address nor a telephone number," Clarke stated.

He further explained that in matters regarding compensation, the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service engages with bargaining groups "duly recognised as representative of occupational groupings within the public sector".

He noted that the recognised bargaining group for members of the legal profession employed to the Government of Jamaica is the Legal Officers Staff Association (LOSA) and "there is no other recognised group".

Clarke said LOSA signed the agreement on compensation restructuring on March 10 and the new compensation arrangements, including retroactive amounts, have been implemented.

However, he outlined that on May 25, LOSA, under the signature of its vice president, wrote to his ministry requesting a meeting to discuss matters of concern to the association.

He said he called the vice president of LOSA, discussed aspects of the matters raised in the letter and indicated that, given the schedule of meetings with other groups, the ministry would be unable to accommodate a meeting with them for some time.

"For clarity, there are still a few public bodies which have not yet started implementation of the compensation restructuring and the priority, at this stage, is to reach an agreement to allow for the implementation of the new compensation system in those entities," Clarke insisted.

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