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You said it, so live up to it. FIND THE MONEY.Also, apologise to the lady for saying you did not.
I want to apologise to her, as I thought she was recklessly bluffing and pursuing a bad strategy, as she did not provide the evidence till now.
Caught! - Tape reveals finance minister's double-pay promise for nurses
published: Tuesday | October 2, 2007
Left: Shaw... "While doubling the nurses' [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]salary[/COLOR][/COLOR] might appear to be ambitious, I don't believe it is. I believe that in the context of where you are starting from, it is still a relatively modest pay." Right: Allwood-Anderson ... "The NAJ, by November, will be submitting our claim and we expect that the Minister of Finance will be true to his word, of doubling nurses' salary."
The [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]Nurses[/COLOR][/COLOR] Association of Jamaica (NAJ) yesterday tightened the screws on Finance Minister Audley Shaw, sharing details of a recording in which Mr. Shaw, then in opposition, gave several commitments to significantly increase their [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]compensation [COLOR=orange! important]package[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR].
It was on July 19, 2006 that Mr. Shaw, addressing the nurses at a Founders' Day function, promised, among other things, to see to the doubling of their pay, upon becoming finance minister.
"I would like to give the commitment that, as minister of finance, that would have to be just the starting position", he said then, in reference to the 100-per-cent [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]pay [COLOR=orange! important]increase[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR].
There was much more that would have to be done over time to take the pay of nurses up to an acceptable standard, he said.
In that address Mr. Shaw first identified two specific measures that he said should be introduced to improve the lot of nurses. One was a 'risk differential', a special allowance which would be given to nurses [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]working[/COLOR][/COLOR] on night shifts or other odd hours. The other measure he identified was the scrapping of taxation on overtime pay. "We believe that overtime work for nurses should not attract any taxes," he stressed.
Having got the attention of the nurses with those two measures, Mr. Shaw then went on to the issue of take-home pay, prefacing his remark with the somewhat prophetic comment: "I hope I don't get myself into deep trouble for this!"
Referring to calls being made then by Edith Allwood-Anderson, NAJ president, for nurses' pay to be doubled, he said, "I want to publicly support that position."
That measure, he argued, was not a great deal. To illustrate his point, he helpfully calculated that it would merely mean that a nurse, with a master's degree in Jamaica, would see her US$540-per-month salary moving up to $1,080 per month. This was "only 20 per cent or 15 per cent" of what she would be receiving in the United States, he suggested.
"While doubling the nurses' salary might appear to be ambitious, I don't believe it is. I believe that in the context of where you are starting from, it is still a relatively modest pay," he stated.
As for where the money would be found to deliver on this promise, the then opposition spokesman on finance said this could be realised by "cutting out the corruption and nepotism" in the award of government contracts.
Doubling the nurses' pay would cost the country only $4 billion, he asserted, calculating that by avoiding "just one scandal alone we can find one year's potential salary towards you getting that double compensation".
As if anticipating that his audience would not take his words seriously, he added, "I don't want you to be cynical about it!"
Mrs. Allwood-Anderson, add-ressing a Gleaner Editors' Forum last week, recalled this promise, asserting that she had it on tape. She said that the NAJ would be holding Mr. Shaw to his words, given freely at the Founders' Day luncheon.
When questioned by The Gleaner afterwards, Mr. Shaw said that he could not recall making any such commitment.
Yesterday, as Mrs. Allwood Anderson reviewed the tape, she could not resist an impish smile as she heard once again, the promises made by Mr. Shaw, who is now responsible for the national purse. "The NAJ, by November, will be submitting our claim and we expect that the Minister of Finance will be true to his word, of doubling nurses' salary," she emphasised.
I want to apologise to her, as I thought she was recklessly bluffing and pursuing a bad strategy, as she did not provide the evidence till now.
Caught! - Tape reveals finance minister's double-pay promise for nurses
published: Tuesday | October 2, 2007
Left: Shaw... "While doubling the nurses' [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]salary[/COLOR][/COLOR] might appear to be ambitious, I don't believe it is. I believe that in the context of where you are starting from, it is still a relatively modest pay." Right: Allwood-Anderson ... "The NAJ, by November, will be submitting our claim and we expect that the Minister of Finance will be true to his word, of doubling nurses' salary."
The [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]Nurses[/COLOR][/COLOR] Association of Jamaica (NAJ) yesterday tightened the screws on Finance Minister Audley Shaw, sharing details of a recording in which Mr. Shaw, then in opposition, gave several commitments to significantly increase their [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]compensation [COLOR=orange! important]package[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR].
It was on July 19, 2006 that Mr. Shaw, addressing the nurses at a Founders' Day function, promised, among other things, to see to the doubling of their pay, upon becoming finance minister.
"I would like to give the commitment that, as minister of finance, that would have to be just the starting position", he said then, in reference to the 100-per-cent [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]pay [COLOR=orange! important]increase[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR].
There was much more that would have to be done over time to take the pay of nurses up to an acceptable standard, he said.
In that address Mr. Shaw first identified two specific measures that he said should be introduced to improve the lot of nurses. One was a 'risk differential', a special allowance which would be given to nurses [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]working[/COLOR][/COLOR] on night shifts or other odd hours. The other measure he identified was the scrapping of taxation on overtime pay. "We believe that overtime work for nurses should not attract any taxes," he stressed.
Having got the attention of the nurses with those two measures, Mr. Shaw then went on to the issue of take-home pay, prefacing his remark with the somewhat prophetic comment: "I hope I don't get myself into deep trouble for this!"
Referring to calls being made then by Edith Allwood-Anderson, NAJ president, for nurses' pay to be doubled, he said, "I want to publicly support that position."
That measure, he argued, was not a great deal. To illustrate his point, he helpfully calculated that it would merely mean that a nurse, with a master's degree in Jamaica, would see her US$540-per-month salary moving up to $1,080 per month. This was "only 20 per cent or 15 per cent" of what she would be receiving in the United States, he suggested.
"While doubling the nurses' salary might appear to be ambitious, I don't believe it is. I believe that in the context of where you are starting from, it is still a relatively modest pay," he stated.
As for where the money would be found to deliver on this promise, the then opposition spokesman on finance said this could be realised by "cutting out the corruption and nepotism" in the award of government contracts.
Doubling the nurses' pay would cost the country only $4 billion, he asserted, calculating that by avoiding "just one scandal alone we can find one year's potential salary towards you getting that double compensation".
As if anticipating that his audience would not take his words seriously, he added, "I don't want you to be cynical about it!"
Mrs. Allwood-Anderson, add-ressing a Gleaner Editors' Forum last week, recalled this promise, asserting that she had it on tape. She said that the NAJ would be holding Mr. Shaw to his words, given freely at the Founders' Day luncheon.
When questioned by The Gleaner afterwards, Mr. Shaw said that he could not recall making any such commitment.
Yesterday, as Mrs. Allwood Anderson reviewed the tape, she could not resist an impish smile as she heard once again, the promises made by Mr. Shaw, who is now responsible for the national purse. "The NAJ, by November, will be submitting our claim and we expect that the Minister of Finance will be true to his word, of doubling nurses' salary," she emphasised.
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