Prison officers also agree to 4% salary increase offer
FOLLOWING in the footsteps of the police and the Defence Force, on Tuesday afternoon the Prison Officers' Association (POA) will reportedly accept the four per cent salary-increase offer from the Government.
The agreement means that the Fire Officers Association remains the lone member of the protective service not to agree to it.
On March 31 Assistant Commissioner of Prisons Felix Alexis, head of the first division Prison Officers Association, and the Chief Personnel Officer, Dr Daryl Dindial, agreed to the increase.
After the signing, president of the POA Gerard Gordon condemned what he called a "reprehensible and desperate" act, as the POA is the only recognised body allowed to represent all prison officers except for the deputies and commissioner of prisons.
The Government has not budged from its position that four per cent was all it could offer for 2014-2019. The first union to accept the offer was the Amalgamated Workers' Union, which agreed to the proposal on August 29.
In November 2022 the Defence Force became the first sector of the protective services to accept the offer. It was followed by the police service in December last year.
The POA was among four unions referred to a special tribunal of the Industrial Court after negotiations broke down. The remaining unions are the TT Fire Service Association and the Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers' Association (TTUTA).
In a phone interview with Newsday on Tuesday, Gordon said the decision was made in the best interest of the membership. He added that last Thursday the Industrial Court sought to bind the union to a ten-year negotiating period, and if the four per cent offer was accepted, it meant members would have been mandated to accept four per cent for the decade, rather than a six-year period.
“We had an emergency meeting last Thursday, and based on the feedback we withdrew the matter on Friday and accepted four per cent for the period 2014-2019. It was the best decision, based on the information we had, because at the end of the day, half a loaf is better than none.”
The offer means prison officers will be given no increases for the years 2014-2016, two per cent for 2016, nothing for 2017-2018 and another two per cent for 2019. Negotiations for the remaining four-year period, 2020-2023, are continuing.
In a media release on March 31 after signing with Alexis, Dindial said: “Apart from the four per cent salary increase, there were adjustments to allowances such as plain clothes, meals, laundry, special responsibility, travelling, cost of living allowance (COLA), as well as a lump sum payment of $4,000 to officers who retired compulsorily, voluntarily, with permission on the grounds of illness for the period 2014-2016.”
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"Prison officers also agree to 4% salary increase offer"