Opposition leader rejects 5% wage offer

OPPOSITION Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar says she rejects a proposed five per cent wage offer to public sector workers.

She made this comment in her contribution to the 2024/2025 budget debate in the House of Representatives on October 4.

In his budget presentation in the House on September 30, Finance Minister Colm Imbert said he instructed the Chief Personnel Officer (CPO) to begin negotiations with those trade unions which previously accepted the government’s four per cent wage increase for January 2020-December 2022.

The increase was for the 2014-2019 period. He then sweetened the deal, increasing the offer for 2020-2022 to five per cent “even in the face of our challenging financial circumstances.”

While he said the Public Services Association (PSA) and National Union of Government and Federated Workers Trade Union (NUGFW) refused the four per cent and have referred the matter to the Industrial Court, Imbert urged both unions to accept the offer and move on.

Since this announcement, some trade unions have rejected the five per cent wage offer.

Persad-Bissessar said the wage offer mentioned by Imbert could be viewed as government interfering in the collective bargaining process.

"The UNC rejects the unjust four and five per cent imposed on all state sector workers."

She promised a future UNC government will "engage in the free and fair collective bargaining process through the office of the CPO."

In 2010, under Persad-Bissessar's term as prime minister in the People's Partnership administration, public sector workers were also offered a five per cent increase, which many trade unions rejected. However, subsequent negotiations saw offers being made of nine per cent in 2012 and 12 per cent in the 2011 to 2013 period.

In her budget response, Persad-Bissessar promised that should the UNC win the next general election, it will pursue initiatives with trade unions to ensure their members get access to Housing Development Corporation homes and earn a decent living wage.

She repeated the UNC's view that hardships inflicted on the population through measures such as the imposition of taxes and rising food prices were tantamount to "death by 1,000 cuts."

Persad-Bissessar questioned Government's plan to divest its 49 per cent shareholding in Colonial Life Insurance Company (Clico).

She wondered if this was related to Clico recently announcing a $2.3 billion profit and if PNM financiers would benefit from this divestment.

"I call on the Minister to provide a comprehensive report on Clico publicly. No more secrets."

On September 30, Imbert said, "Clico is no longer considered to be of strategic importance to the government and its divestment will earn several billion dollars in revenue for the government to see us through the financial difficulties of the next few years."

He added there was a false narrative circulating in the public domain that government has been repaid all that it is due for the 2009/2010 Clico bailout.

"Far from being fully repaid, the government is still owed over at least a further $13 billion in taxpayers’ funds injected into CL Financial and the other related companies."

Persad-Bissessar called on government to amend the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property Act if necessary to bring this proposed divestment of Clico, sale or lease of the Magdalena Grand Hotel in Tobago and the former Petrotrin refinery in Pointe-a-Pierre under the purview of the Officer of the Procurement Regulator.