Come talk to us, Finance Minister tells JTA, other public sector unions

Finance and Public Service Minister Dr Nigel Clarke has argued that the Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA) appears "more interested in talking to the media" than engaging his Ministry on concerns about anomalies in the wage reform for public sector workers. 

Earlier this month, JTA president La Sonja Harrison said the association wrote to the Ministry about the incorrect salaries of scores of teachers but, to date, there has been no response.

She said the bulk of teachers affected are those who have given between 25 and 40 years of service to the sector.

"To turn a deaf ear could only lead one to conclude that the experienced outcomes were intended,” she said in another May statement. 

However, on Wednesday, Clarke, speaking at a post-Cabinet press briefing, had a different tune, saying the he and the finance ministry “have been available to meet, to discuss any anomalies", though aggrieved unions representing public sector workers are "more interested in talking to the media than to the Ministry of Finance." 

"I don't think that La Sonja Harrison has, to date, picked up any kind of correspondence with the Ministry of Finance. All she's out there [doing] is talking to the media. We are here and ready to engage on any anomalies that exist. And we have meetings set up to address some of the systematic issues," he said, referring to the JTA president. 

A teacher who wrote to The Gleaner recently said that she received a net salary of $724 in March after the education ministry insisted that she was being overpaid.

The guidance counsellor, who teaches at the secondary level, said that she thought the matter would have been addressed the following month, but to her surprise, she was paid only $1,200 in April. 

She disclosed in a follow-up that $106,000 was withdrawn from her salary to recoup the ‘overpaid’ amount.

Clarke said public sector compensation changes, which include the absorption of longstanding allowances in basic pay, is complicated and would involve some challenges. 

"You don't make a transformational change like this, this is not a salary increase, this is a complete transformational change in the compensation framework for over 110,000 persons in the public sector, you don't make that kind of transformation without there being anomalies especially with the complicated nature of the system that we're coming from.”

He said the problems are in the "minority" but "will be addressed". 

Last week, the Jamaica Civil Service Association, which represents the bulk of government workers, said the announced massive hikes for politicians do "not sit well with our membership consequent to the numerous unresolved anomalies." 

It pointed to concerns about the suspension of increments, removal of duty allowances, mileage payments, contract workers who are yet to have adjustments to their salaries, and a push for an increase in the income tax threshold.

- Jovan Johnson

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