In marked contrast to the protestations of the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) over what it said were government-imposed wages and salary increases that were devoid of consultations with the union, Jamaica is reporting that more than thirty of the country’s trade unions representing Public Servants have accepted the government’s four per cent salary increase offer for the period April 2021 to March 2022, apparently without murmur.
The Ministry of Finance in Kingston, a Jamaica Gleaner story says, has been able to realise sufficient success from its talks with the unions to allow for 80,000 public sector workers, approximately 80% of the country’s public sector workforce, to have been covered in the talks. Bargaining Units representing nurses, midwives, doctors, and staff of various academic institutions who are represented by six unions and reportedly number around 10,000 workers are all covered by the outcome of the talks.