Government and trade unions have reached a deal that will see public sector workers getting a one-off payment of $1 500, a six per cent salary increase over the next two years and a 16 per cent hike in allowances up to 2025.
Under the agreement, there will also be a regrading and job evaluation exercise across the public service this year and a committee set up to address employee grievances.
The deal was reached on Tuesday at the end of four rounds of talks chaired by Director General in the Ministry of the Public Service Penelope Linton.
The National Union of Public Workers (NUPW), which represents the largest number of public sector employees, welcomed the settlement as reasonable, while the Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations of Barbados (CTUSAB) described the negotiations as successful based on the principle of “give and take”.
“The agreement entails a $1 500 lump sum payment that is tax-free that will only include National Insurance deductions to maintain the pension entitlement, and that would be for the year 2022. [The pay increase] will be three per cent 2023-2024, and for the year 2024-2025, three per cent,” General Secretary of the NUPW Richard Greene told Barbados TODAY soon after the settlement.
That increase, according to a statement issued later by the Ministry of the Public Service, will be given to “all persons who at March 31 of this year will have been working in the Public Service and in State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) that are dependent on central Government for recurring financial support”.
“Those State Owned Enterprises not relying on central government for their recurring financial support will be encouraged to conclude any outstanding salaries and wages negotiations in short order,” the ministry added.
Greene also disclosed the bump in allowances for public servants who currently get allowances.
There will be cumulative increases of allowances of 10 per cent for the year 2022-2023, three per cent for 2023-2024, and a further three per cent for 2024-2025.
Greene said that during the talks to reach a settlement, the union acted on the mandate given by its members “to be firm but reasonable and look at all options available to get the best possible deal to bring back some parity between the increase in the cost of living and increases in the wages and salaries”.
Describing the negotiations as cordial and frank, he said the Central Bank of Barbados and the Ministry of Finance had outlined the “true extent of the Barbados economy and the NUPW, being a responsible union, took into account all of the factors and pressed hard for a settlement that was going to bring some ease to the burden of the cost of living on members”.
President of the CTUSAB Edwin O’Neal conceded that in negotiations it was not always practical to get everything demanded.
“We understand the process of negotiations. You are not always going to get all that you want but it is a process in which both sides should participate, and it will be a give-and-take situation. If that is the definition or aspect of negotiations, then the negotiations were successful based on the principle of give and take,” he told Barbados TODAY.
He said CTUSAB had negotiated on behalf of the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT), the Police Association of Barbados (PAB), the Barbados Fire Officers Association (BFOA), the Barbados Nurses Association (BNA), the Nursing Assistants, Aides Association of Barbados (NAAAB), and the Barbados Association of Medical Practitioners (BAMP).
The statement from the Ministry of the Public Service also disclosed that outside of the financial package, the parties also agreed on a series of non-salaried items “aimed at enhancing the overall employee experience of public officers”.
These include the creation of 22 master teacher posts and 10 specialist nurse posts; the establishment of a Grievance Monitoring Committee to meet monthly to track and resolve public officers’ grievances; a public service-wide regrading and job evaluation exercise to begin this year; and the inclusion of additional posts in the public officers’ loan and travel allowances framework.
“It is envisaged that the above initiatives, coupled with the increase in remuneration, will allow for the retention of valuable public service skills, upward mobility and the maintenance of harmonious labour management relationships in the public sector and State Owned Enterprises,” the ministry declared.
“The Government of Barbados has recognised that its employees continue to give dedicated service and make selfless sacrifices. This is notwithstanding all of the challenges that we have faced as a nation over the last three years, ranging from the extraordinary loss of life, mental stress and national economic decline related to the COVID-19 pandemic, to the volcanic ashfall from La Soufriere, to the freak storm and Hurricane Elsa that affected us.”
It added that given these difficult and uncertain times, and in spite of being in an International Monetary Fund-sponsored programme, the parties regarded the agreement as “a fair, reasonable and sustainable settlement that recognises the importance and value of the workers within the public sector”.
The ministry thanked all parties to the negotiations “for the cordial and efficient way in which the negotiations were conducted”.
emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb
