6 days ago
1
Lead Editor Politics
Chief Personnel Officer (CPO) Commander Dr Daryl Dindial says he anticipates that the “10 per cent” wage negotiations with the Public Services Association (PSA) will begin in the last week of November.
He made the comment to Guardian Media late Monday, just hours after PSA president Felisha Thomas accused him of stalling the start of the talks.
Earlier that day, Thomas expressed her “annoyance” with the CPO over what she described as his delay in coming to the bargaining table to honour the Government’s promised ten per cent salary increase for public servants.
She added, “Something doesn’t seem right.”
Thomas said she wrote to the CPO last week proposing different days for a potential meeting, however, she received no response.
However, on Monday evening, CPO Dindial responded to questions regarding Thomas’ comments.
“I am out of the jurisdiction on official business. I return next week by which time the preparatory work would be finalised. As such, I recently requested the process commence on my return home,” Dindial said.
Asked when exactly he expects the wage talks to begin, the CPO said, “I anticipate last week in November.”
Dindial said he will be relaying that information to the PSA.
“The CPO’s office will be communicating with the PSA tomorrow (yesterday) to advise them on the status of our preparations. Rest assured, we are also finalising specific information briefs from the Ministry of Finance to commence the process.”
While the CPO said his office does not negotiate or disclose certain information in the public domain regarding negotiations that have yet to commence, he sought to explain how nuanced the preparation process is.
“There must be a firm understanding and expression of our recent, current, and projected macroeconomic profile to set the foundation for discussion. That approach is not only responsible, it is critical to guide discussions.”
He also explained the process involved in these negotiations.
“So the first thing is really the brief from the Ministry of Finance and Debt Management Division.”
Clarifying what this “brief” entails, the CPO said, “So you must have a sense of where they see the economy going, what are the risks to the economy, what has been our debt to GDP over the last X amount of years. We may go back 10, 15 years. And what is the projected impact they see the economy having in terms of growth or stagnation, as the case may be.”
He said this step is of critical importance.
The CPO said his office is still awaiting that “brief”.
He added that he must conduct negotiations within the range given to him by the Ministry of Finance.
“He (The CPO) must know what he can’t and can go for. The Ministry of Finance signs off on that with the Cabinet’s approval.”
When all the discussions are over and an agreement is reached, the CPO said both he and the union would sign an agreement which is then taken to the Cabinet for approval.
Christmas payment possible
Given that the PSA president is hoping payments can be made by Christmas, Guardian Media asked former Head of the Public Service, Reynold Cooper, how feasible that would be if negotiations begin in late November and conclude shortly thereafter. He said that while it would be a lot of work, it could be done.
Cooper said, “In my view, the only way that is feasible is if one, the existing staff work overtime, or two, they hire persons to do the work.”
The proposed wage increase will cover two periods: 2014–2016 and 2017–2019, representing a five per cent increase for each period.
Efforts to contact the PSA president yesterday were unsuccessful.
English (US) ·