Unions will be going after public sector salary increases to combat inflation and the rising cost of living

Two of Barbados’ leading trade unions have signaled their intention to pursue public sector salary increases for the first time in three years.

President of the Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations of Barbados (CTUSAB) Edwin O’neal declared that since the last salary increases in 2018, numerous factors had further eroded the spending power of workers.

General Secretary of the National Union of Public Workers Richard Green also told Barbados TODAY that a discussion on salary increases was on the front burner given the “rates of inflation” and “overall cost of living”. But he added that a promised re-grading exercise is also high on the union’s agenda.

The CTUSAB president said he could not delve into details of the congress’ proposal, but promised the “best possible representation” in light of the ongoing “economic maelstrom”.

“Workers will be happy to know that in our judgement, it is time for salaries review and to this end, we have alerted and made submissions for public sector wages for salary increases for the period 2019 to 2022,” O’neal declared at a CTUSAB press conference.

“As you know, salary agreements are for a two to three-year period. There was a salary increase in 2018 after this government came into office, so the time is now for a review.

“Labour cannot be ignored and cannot be called on to make all of the sacrifices, notwithstanding the challenges that we face,” he maintained.

In 2018, workers received a five per cent increase three months after Mottley’s Barbados Labour Party won the election.

Pressed further about the rationale for the salary demands, CTUSAB General Secretary Dennis DePeiza said the Mia Mottley administration needed to consider the suffering with which workers were forced to contend over the last two years.

“The rising cost of living, the impact of the war which is going to affect goods and services, all of those things have to be taken into consideration. Government has increased taxes, banks have added [charges] onto almost every transaction. So there is a rise in the cost of doing business, so the consumer is going to have a hard task of surviving on the same amount of income because of the fact that the distribution will not be equal in terms of their spending power,” DePeiza contended.

“Throughout the Caribbean – Jamaica, Antigua, St Kitts and Grenada – all those have been on the frontline of wage and salary increases and this is since the pandemic came in. We are not doing anything that is out of line, but we are doing something that is consistent with the practice that we have two or three-year salary agreements and the time is right for us to make that submission for a new accord to be put in place,” he added.

CTUSAB is the umbrella trade union body that embraces teachers, police officers, fire officers, nurses, prison officers and a number of other public sector organisations. But the NUPW is the single largest organisation representing the interest of public workers.

When contacted, the NUPW General Secretary said the proposals would be placed on the agenda when the union’s national council meets.

“We will also be looking at the possibility of salary increases based on the rates of inflation and the general cost of living,” Green told Barbados TODAY.

“This year there is talk about re-grading within the public service looking at salaries and seeing where salaries fit relative to other salaries in the public service and assessing the value of specific posts.

“It involves attaching weight to certain responsibilities and certain specific duties. For instance, one might argue that the value of healthcare is a bit more now. We need to sit down and determine holistically the approach we are going to take,” the General Secretary added.

CTUSAB is calling for the implementation of policies that replace import dependence with increased local production.

“We are informed that the production of wheat and other grains, a significant amount of the world’s requirements, is grown in that area that now occupies the European civil war which is between Russia and Ukraine,” said O’neal.

“We are already feeling the effects of the dislocation and displacement of foodstuff. We have always argued that Barbados needs to pursue this import substitution and I hope that after the experience of COVID, Barbadians will be refining their taste, incentives will be put in place, encouragement would be given to the notion of growing more of what we eat,” O’neal added.
kareemsmith@barbadostoday.bb