Tweet
PM says teachers, police have received significant top-ups since 2007
BY KIMONE THOMPSON, Senior staff reporter thompsonk@jamaicaobserver.com
Thursday, August 27, 2009
PRIME Minister Bruce Golding says it is unfair and unreasonable for the police and teachers to be clamouring for salary increases when both groups benefited from what he said were "significant" top-ups in the almost two years that his administration has been in office.
Citing the negative effects of the global economic meltdown, government in March this year put a freeze on public sector wages, saying it was unable to honour the seven per cent increase agreed to for the 2008-2010 contract period.
Prime Minister Bruce Golding addresses yesterday's Post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House. (Photo: JIS)
However, public sector workers - mainly the police, teachers and nurses - have been agitating for the seven per cent owed to them.
Sergeant Raymond Wilson, chairman of the Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file members of the constabulary force, said the police refuse to accept the freeze because no reasonable alternative has been offered.
"...It is more than a little unfair to say that this government is so unfair and so stingy," Golding told journalists at yesterday's post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House.
"There are senior police officers whose salaries exceed that of some of my ministers," he said.
According to information from the Ministry of Finance, a constable in the force for one year earns a basic salary of $590,000, receives housing allowance of $308,160, as well as $159,200 to compensate for working more than 40 hours per week. That's a total of $1,057,360 before taxes.
At the top of the scale, the commissioner of police earns upwards of $8 million per year.
Where teachers are concerned, Finance Minister Audley Shaw, who was also present at yesterday's press briefing, said that in the two years that the Jamaica Labour Party government has been in power, teachers have seen a 65 per cent increase in their salaries.
".For example, a senior principal moved from close to $2 million to about $3.3 million per year," Shaw said. "That's an increase of 65 per cent."
"I'm not arguing that there is no basis for an increase," added Golding, "But I have never heard any appreciation of that; I have never heard
any union representative confirming or denying it, because they can't deny it, but they haven't confirmed it either," said the prime minister.
"We have moved teachers to 80 per cent of the market so what they are arguing about is not that they have got no increase. What they are arguing about is the back pay from that increase which amounts to about $8 billion," he said. But he restated the Government's position that it was unable to pay at this time.
The prime minister told reporters that since his government took office in September 2007, the public sector wage bill has increased from $84 billion to $125 billion, $5 billion of which was retroactive payment.
"The public sector is the same size as it was when we took office, yet the public sector wage bill has increased from $84 billion to $125 billion," he said.
"How can anybody ever suggest that this government is a hard one.?" he asked.
Said Golding: "There is a noticeable lack of understanding of the economic problems the country is experiencing and a lack of sufficient regard for what government has been doing to deal with the situation."
Golding, in the meantime, said Jamaica's borrowing relationship with the IMF will not result in any loss of jobs as far as direct employment to government goes.
The strategy, he said, is to cut programmes.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...NDS_UNFAIR.asp
BY KIMONE THOMPSON, Senior staff reporter thompsonk@jamaicaobserver.com
Thursday, August 27, 2009
PRIME Minister Bruce Golding says it is unfair and unreasonable for the police and teachers to be clamouring for salary increases when both groups benefited from what he said were "significant" top-ups in the almost two years that his administration has been in office.
Citing the negative effects of the global economic meltdown, government in March this year put a freeze on public sector wages, saying it was unable to honour the seven per cent increase agreed to for the 2008-2010 contract period.
Prime Minister Bruce Golding addresses yesterday's Post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House. (Photo: JIS)However, public sector workers - mainly the police, teachers and nurses - have been agitating for the seven per cent owed to them.
Sergeant Raymond Wilson, chairman of the Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file members of the constabulary force, said the police refuse to accept the freeze because no reasonable alternative has been offered.
"...It is more than a little unfair to say that this government is so unfair and so stingy," Golding told journalists at yesterday's post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House.
"There are senior police officers whose salaries exceed that of some of my ministers," he said.
According to information from the Ministry of Finance, a constable in the force for one year earns a basic salary of $590,000, receives housing allowance of $308,160, as well as $159,200 to compensate for working more than 40 hours per week. That's a total of $1,057,360 before taxes.
At the top of the scale, the commissioner of police earns upwards of $8 million per year.
Where teachers are concerned, Finance Minister Audley Shaw, who was also present at yesterday's press briefing, said that in the two years that the Jamaica Labour Party government has been in power, teachers have seen a 65 per cent increase in their salaries.
".For example, a senior principal moved from close to $2 million to about $3.3 million per year," Shaw said. "That's an increase of 65 per cent."
"I'm not arguing that there is no basis for an increase," added Golding, "But I have never heard any appreciation of that; I have never heard
any union representative confirming or denying it, because they can't deny it, but they haven't confirmed it either," said the prime minister.
"We have moved teachers to 80 per cent of the market so what they are arguing about is not that they have got no increase. What they are arguing about is the back pay from that increase which amounts to about $8 billion," he said. But he restated the Government's position that it was unable to pay at this time.
The prime minister told reporters that since his government took office in September 2007, the public sector wage bill has increased from $84 billion to $125 billion, $5 billion of which was retroactive payment.
"The public sector is the same size as it was when we took office, yet the public sector wage bill has increased from $84 billion to $125 billion," he said.
"How can anybody ever suggest that this government is a hard one.?" he asked.
Said Golding: "There is a noticeable lack of understanding of the economic problems the country is experiencing and a lack of sufficient regard for what government has been doing to deal with the situation."
Golding, in the meantime, said Jamaica's borrowing relationship with the IMF will not result in any loss of jobs as far as direct employment to government goes.
The strategy, he said, is to cut programmes.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...NDS_UNFAIR.asp
Comment