1 month ago
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PSA president Felisha Thomas - THE Public Services Association has said that all Regional Health Authority (RHA) employees will benefit from the ten per cent salary increase agreed to on December 2.
In a media release on December 10, the PSA explained that RHA workers include public workers employed by the Health Ministry, public workers transferred to the RHAs and those employed by the RHAs directly.
Legally, the PSA is recognised as the majority union for transferred public officers employed by the ministry and the RHAs.
“In effect, once the PSA settles increases for Ministry of Health workers and for transferred workers, all RHA employees benefit from the upgraded salaries and resulting arrears.
“As these agreements are signed for ministry officers in the RHAs and officers who have transferred to the RHA, the remaining RHA employees are normally adjusted to maintain parity across the workforce.”
Ministry workers in the RHAs will also automatically benefit from the agreement, the PSA said.
“For RHA workers who transferred from the public service, the PSA must now meet with the RHAs to settle and sign a similar memorandum of agreement (MoA) for your increase in salary, allowances and arrears.
The release said that the agreement remains outstanding and the PSA has written to all RHA CEOs requesting that the advance on the $3.8 billion in back pay owed be paid before December 23.
The PSA and the CPO signed an MoA on December 2 for the bargaining periods of 2014-2016 and 2017-2019, including a ten per cent wage increase with new salary payments starting in January 2026 and retroactive allowances from January 1, 2014.
The total cost of this agreement is estimated to be around $3.8 billion in back pay, with additional annual expenditures of approximately $420 million.
On December 5, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said the ten per cent actually works out to 15 per cent with the consolidation of Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) for both periods.
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