14 unions ink wage deal

Finance and the Public Service Minister Dr Nigel Clarke has described as “a watershed moment” the brokering of an agreement with 14 public-sector unions covering 60,000 workers that will rationalise a compensation scheme viewed as cumbersome and inefficient.

A sweetener in the deal is the implementation of extended maternity leave and the inauguration of paternity leave for public-sector workers, which will take effect on January 1, 2023. Paid maternity leave will move from 40 days to 60 days.

The new compensation system will be implemented over three years with an effective date of April 1, 2022. It will cost approximately $120 billion over the period.

The deal, inked between Tuesday and Thursday, involves several major members of the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions (JCTU), including the Nurses Association of Jamaica, Jamaica Civil Service Association, the Jamaica Workers Union, the Union of Schools Agricultural and Allied Workers Union, the Union of Public and Private Employees, the Jamaica Association of Local Government Officers, the Jamaica Midwives Association, the Council of Paramedics, and the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union.

The restructuring exercise aims to simplify a maze of 185 different compensation schemes.

Helene Davis Whyte, president of the JCTU, is elated about the agreement, particularly the paternity leave benefit.

“Now that it has come to fruition, we are overjoyed. However, I should note that the agreement that we have is that the details, in terms of the number of days and the process in terms of how one applies, that is still to be ironed out between the ministry and the unions,” Davis Whyte told The Gleaner Thursday.

Clarke labelled the agreement the result of a four-year slog to redesign the public-sector compensation architecture, which included extensive consultation with unions.

“We set out on this journey in 2018, and we would not be here without the partnership with the unions who agreed to a four-year wage deal that allowed this work to commence.

“Since that time, we have held several rounds of consultations, and I am pleased that we have been able to achieve consensus even as the ministry continues to work through some finer points with the unions and staff associations,” the minister said in a press statement.

Clarke emphasised that the process was fair, transparent, and sustainable, and that every public-sector worker will be better off financially when the new system is implemented.

Pre-pandemic, Jamaica’s wage bill, as a proportion of gross domestic product (GDP), stood at 9.1 per cent, not counting allowances, which, when factored, equated to around 10.1 per cent. Experts estimate that wage-to-GDP will rise to around 10.8 per cent.

ainsworth.morris@gleanerjm.com