JCSA says FLA contract workers frustrated by inequitable treatment

The Jamaica Civil Service Association (JCSA) says Tuesday's industrial action by workers at the Firearm Licensing Authority (FLA) reflects the frustration of contract workers who are yet to be addressed under the Government's compensation restructuring exercise.

Additionally, the JCSA president Techa Clarke-Griffiths says the association has not been able to meet with its members and potential members at the FLA, even after numerous attempts to do so and this has left the staff without representation at a critical juncture.

She explains that before the restructuring, contract workers would have benefitted from salary increases and all other benefits negotiated by the trade unions.

However, she says contract workers were left out of the compensation review. Clarke-Griffiths is now calling for an end to what it says is the discrimination against contract workers in the public sector.

She says the JCSA has long stated that the Fixed Term Contract Policy of the Government is being misapplied and should be amended.

Clarke-Griffiths explains that the issuance of Circular No 20, dated November 18, 2022, from the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service delayed the participation of contract workers in the compensation restructuring exercise by at least one year.

"This highlights the government's need to address contract employment issues that have led to a division among public sector workers. This division denies them equal treatment from the same employer, even though they perform equal work of equal value," Clarke-Griffiths says.

She says, as a result, workers have been receiving lower pay since April 1.

The JCSA is inviting the members of the FLA to meet to discuss the current issues at a date to be announced.

Follow The Gleaner on Twitter and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.