‘Balanced’ budget – NUPW

This island’s largest public sector trade union has described Prime Minister Mia Mottley’s 2023 Budgetary Proposals as balanced.
General Secretary of the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) Richard Greene said late Thursday evening that to include nurses as beneficiaries of public officers’ travel loans was a step in the right direction.
Greene said this is something the union has been asking about for a long time.
“The income tax allowance for pensioners from $40,000 to $45,000 is a positive for our retired members,” he told Barbados TODAY.
However, the NUPW leader is concerned about the implications of Government’s proposed reform of the State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs).
“The comments the Prime Minister made in the budget, it appears as though there will be some retrenchments. But coming out of the budget we recognise there was not anything in detail, providing anything specific about how these entities will be reformed and any strategic focus of the SOEs,” he stated.
“So we are looking forward to further discussion on how exactly those reforms will take place. The fact there were no new taxes in the budget was another positive, especially coming on the heels of salary increases for public officers. We are happy that there are no new taxes,” Greene declared.
He also said the training for public officers was another aspect of the Budget which has gone down well with the union.
“Another positive, too, is the training of middle-level public officers. We saw as a positive the training of supervisory officers because we recognise that there is a deficit in quality supervision throughout the public service and across work places on the whole,” he asserted.
“There is a recognition that closer attention must be paid to productivity across the public service, recognising that a sustainable economy is the result of a highly-trained, competent and efficient public service,” Greene acknowledged.
He also conceded that the training and career development of the individual public officer were required especially when government talks of equipping the sector for new job functions.
Addressing the Prime Minister’s proposal to have a 24-hour economy, the NUPW leader said discussions would need to be held with the union to focus on the implications for workers.
“Obviously, it is something novel. The union would be interested in what benefits the workers can derive. The union would also be interested in a better work-life balance for its members and hours of work,” Greene pointed out.
During her wrap up speech on Thursday night, Prime Minister Mottley addressed a number of issues which were raised following her budget presentation including what some in the private sector considered to be an absence of details surrounding the proposed SOE reforms.
The prime minister was adamant that she could not go into the specifics because the discussions regarding the state enterprises were at a sensitive stage.
She said she had no intention of disrespecting the unions and other stakeholders by making certain matters public which could prejudice the negotiations.
Among the proposals announced during Mottley’s four-hour budget presentation on Tuesday were that effective April 1, 2023, government will reinstate a VAT cap on gasoline and diesel of 47 cents and 37 cents per litre for gasoline and diesel respectively. The cap would be in place for six months.
Government would also initiate a partial principal repayment of $74.8 million to be made no later than April 30, 2023 to those eligible 5,407 individual bondholders of Series B Bonds on the register as at March 31, 2023. They are scheduled to receive a principal repayment of up to $17,500 each.
(EJ)