Clarke rebuffs demands for more pay, says economic gains could reverse
Published:Wednesday | March 8, 2023 | 1:30 AMEdmond Campbell/Senior Parliamentary Reporter
While conceding that critical public sector groups, including the police, teachers, and doctors, deserve more under the compensation restructuring exercise, Finance and the Public Service Minister Dr Nigel Clarke on Tuesday told them plainly in Parliament: “I cannot do any more.”
The “any more” that Clarke referenced is $12 billion set aside in the Budget for teachers; $11.8 billion for members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force; and $6.4 billion for doctors under the restructuring exercise.
The complement of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) is 12,300 while public sector teachers number about 24,000.
A critical vote today by delegates of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) on whether to accept the Ministry of Finance’s offer could determine the turn of events on the industrial scene in the weeks ahead.
Already, scores of teachers at several schools across the country have sent a clear signal that they are dissatisfied with the current offer by staging sit-ins and calling in sick.
Clarke, who opened the 2023-2024 Budget Debate in Gordon House on Tuesday, restated that the payment allocated in the current Budget cannot be accommodated in the upcoming fiscal year.
He also made it clear that the law prevents unused amounts this year from being carried over to finance expenditure next year, noting that public sector groups that have not settled before month end could see their payments being made over an extended period beginning in fiscal year 2024-2025.
“The space does not exist for the Government to pay both the first year restructured salaries and the second year restructured salaries at the same time,” he said.
In a four-hour presentation, Clarke said that he has participated in hundreds of meetings, in person and via virtual platforms with public sector groups.
“What more can I do? Should I put at risk all the progress that Jamaica has made? Should I reverse the economic gains made through mutual sacrifice?” Clarke questioned, adding that he had put together a package that was larger than what has been implemented over the last 10 years combined.
Highlighting the work of teachers as “extraordinary and magical”, Clarke said that he was the son of a classroom teacher.
“My mother worked in the public service for her entire working life. In her time, there were many instances when backpay was two, three, or four years after the fact. I know the impact of that on a family. We do not want to go back there,” Clarke said.
He appealed to the groups that have not signed for “reasonableness”.
Members of the Jamaica Medical Doctors Association are expected to meet with Clarke today to continue talks aimed at reaching a settlement.